About Our Faculty

Heather R. Adams, Ph.D.

Pediatric neuropsychologist Heather Adams has found a niche in helping families with children who have juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (JNCL), one of the forms of Batten Disease.

The NCLs are inherited neurodegenerative diseases of childhood that result in vision loss, seizures, mental and motor decline, and premature death. Dr. Adams is the neuropsychologist for the University of Rochester’s Batten Disease Diagnostic and Clinical Research Center, and part of the team that hosted the 11th International NCL Congress in July 2007. The conference brought researchers from all over the world to the Medical Center.

After receiving her doctoral degree in Clinical Child Psychology from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Dr. Adams arrived in Rochester in 1998 as a Psychology intern in the Department of Psychiatry. She completed a fellowship in Neuropsychology in 2003 and, after a three-year stint in the Pediatric Clinical Research Office, joined the Neurology faculty in 2006

Dr. Adams’ current research extends her longitudinal studies of JNCL, characterizing the diseases’ neurobehavioral features, their association with other neurologic symptoms, and their impact on quality of life. Her clinical services include: evaluation and follow-up of children with seizure disorder, head injuries, and other neurological problems, and also cognitive and behavioral treatment for childhood psychological and behavioral disorders. She also has a special interest in cognitive late effects of pediatric cancer and cancer therapies.

A singer and board member of the Rochester Oratorio Society, Dr. Adams is also an avid kayaker.

URMC Clinical Bio