Barger will work primarily with the school’s Center for Leadership in Disability (CLD), which is part of the school’s Center for Healthy Development. CLD’s mission includes translating research into sustainable community practices that lead to independent, inclusive and productive lives for people with disabilities.
“We are delighted to have Dr. Barger join our faculty in the Center for Healthy Development,” said Dr. Michael Eriksen, dean of the School of Public Health. “His expertise in measurement and evaluation will greatly help advance our research mission.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Disability Research and Dissemination Center at the University of South Carolina selected Barger in 2013 as a policy research fellow for the “Learn the Signs. Act Early” campaign. In that role, Barger worked with the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities on projects to improve community-based identification systems that connect infants and young children with disabilities with early intervention services.
Much of Barger’s research has focused on issues of autism, including regression, temperament and peers’ knowledge of autism.
“I am genuinely excited about the opportunity to work at Georgia State’s School of Public Health and am passionate about improving the lives of individuals with developmental conditions, such as autism spectrum disorders,” Barger said.
“Working at Georgia State allows me to blend my 15 years of working with children and adults with developmental conditions with my interests in research design and statistics.”
Barger earned his Ph.D. in education psychology from the University of Georgia. He also holds a master’s degree in psychology, as well as bachelor’s degrees in history and religious studies, from Western Kentucky University.
Barger’s experience includes a two-year term as a Peace Corps volunteer at the Medical University of Zunyi in China and two years as a special education teacher in North Carolina public schools.
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