Cara E. Pugliese

Cara E. Pugliese, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Behavioral Sciences, and Pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine and a clinical psychologist at the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders at Children’s National Hospital. She received her B.A. from the University of Richmond and her doctoral degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech).

Dr. Pugliese specializes in the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders, with a particular focus on the transition to adulthood. Her research centers on developing, evaluating, and implementing evidence-based interventions in community settings to reduce disparities in access to care and improve quality of life for autistic individuals, including work on the Unstuck and On Target executive function curricula for adolescents and young adults. She has authored or co-authored more than 20 publications and has received or participated in multiple externally funded research grants.