Pearson Clinical Assessment Scientific Council

The Scientific Council is committed to nurturing and advancing the science of the Pearson Clinical Assessment business to meet customer needs and strategic goals. The Scientific Council partners with our international, multidisciplinary project teams to establish and uphold the scientific standards and best practices utilized during product development. The Council is composed of Clinical Assessment research and test development experts across all market portfolios.

Research Engagement Portal

Meet the leads

Photo of Abigail Batty
Abigail Batty

Scientific Council Sponsor
Vice-President, Global R&D

Abigail Batty is the VP of Global R&D for the Clinical Division. She is a qualified Clinical Psychologist (HCPC Registered Practitioner Psychologist, UK). She completed her undergraduate Psychology and post-graduate qualifications in Clinical Psychology at Otago University, New Zealand. She has completed clinical roles in neuropsychology, older people, paediatric and learning disability services in New Zealand and the UK.  Currently she works with global Research & Development groups within Pearson Clinical. She is involved in development of Clinical’s tools for international regions and has a special interest in cross-cultural assessment and innovative approaches to test development.  

Photo of Kristina C. Breaux, PhD
Kristina C. Breaux, PhD

Scientific Council Chair
Principal Research Director, Education Portfolio
Research and Development Manager, Education 

Kristina Breaux, PhD, is a licensed special educator, learning disabilities specialist, researcher, and published author. As Principal Research Director at Pearson, she leads the development of clinical assessments for measuring academic achievement, especially those used for dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia evaluations. She has led projects such as the WIAT-III, WIAT-4, KTEA-3, and WRAT5. Since completing her clinical training at Northwestern University, Kristina has taught students with learning disabilities and other neurodevelopmental disorders across the grade range and conducted numerous psychoeducational evaluations for children, adolescents, and adults. She has co-authored two books and published numerous book chapters and journal articles in the field of clinical assessment. Kristina is past president of LDA Oregon. She currently serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment.

nicki joshua headshot
Nicki Joshua, PhD

Scientific Council Vice Chair,
Portfolio Director, Asia Pacific

Nicki Joshua, PhD, is the Portfolio Director for Pearson Clinical Asia Pacific (APAC). She leads the research and development teams across the region, including in Australia/New Zealand and India and provides support to Pearson publishing partners in Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. She completed her PhD at the University of Melbourne and has worked with Pearson since 2012. Her professional interests include cultural adaptation and localisation of assessment content to ensure suitability and fairness for local populations.

Her career has spanned academic, not for profit and government sectors and she has published several peer-reviewed articles. She lives in Melbourne, Australia with her partner, two boys and three dogs.

Photo of Lisa Whipple Drozdick, PhD
Merel van der Voort-Braak

Manager R&D, Benelux 

Merel van der Voort-Braak is R&D manager for Benelux (Netherlands and Flanders). She completed her qualifications in Clinical Psychology at the University of Amsterdam. Prior to joining Pearson, she worked as a psychologist in a mental health institution and for the Committee on Test Affairs Netherlands (COTAN).

Merel has worked for Pearson since 2012 and has led many projects with a focus on cultural adaptation. She has a special interest in cross-cultural assessment and efficacy in processes. Besides her work for Pearson, Merel has her own practice as an equine therapist for children. She lives in the Netherlands, with her partner and two children.

Photo of Lisa Whipple Drozdick, PhD
Lisa Whipple Drozdick, PhD

Principal Research Director, Healthcare Portfolio
Research and Development Manager, Healthcare and Therapeutics 

Lisa Whipple Drozdick, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist, researcher, and published author. She received her clinical training at West Virginia University and the South Texas Veterans Healthcare System. She currently leads the development of neuropsychological and cognitive measures across the lifespan. Lisa has led the development efforts on products assessing memory, executive functioning, cognitive ability, adaptive functioning, and behavior. She currently spearheads an initiative within Pearson focused on engaging with the research community. Lisa is a member of the National Academy of Neuropsychology, International Neuropsychological Society, American Psychological Association (Divisions 12 Section 2, 20, 22, 40), and Psychologists in Long Term Care.

Photo of Hector Solis
Hector Solis

Manager Systems Development, Field Research 

Hector Solis has been at Pearson since 2004. In his tenure at Pearson, he has worked in the Field Research department collecting data on various clinical assessment tools in the education, healthcare, and therapeautics markets. He also manages various data collection systems that track and standardize data sets used for analysis during product development.

Katherine Presnell, PhD
Katherine Presnell, PhD

Research Director, Healthcare Portfolio

Katherine Presnell, PhD is a licensed psychologist and research director at Pearson. She earned her degree in clinical psychology from the University of Texas at Austin and completed an APA-accredited clinical internship at Duke University Medical Center. In her current role at Pearson, she leads the development of personality and mental health products in Clinical Assessment. Prior to joining Pearson, she provided psychological assessment and treatment of medically ill patients and consultation to interdisciplinary teams in a variety of medical settings. She also taught graduate-level courses in psychopathology, assessment, and research methods, as well as conducted research on the assessment of health-related behaviors. She is a member of the Society for Personality Assessment (SPA) and American Psychological Association (APA). She has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and developed workshops and webinars on various topics in clinical assessment.  

Photo of Chien (Shannon) Wang, MA
Chien (Shannon) Wang, MA

Principal Research Director, Therapeutics Portfolio  

Shannon Wang, MA, CCC-SLP is a licensed speech-language pathologist and researcher. In her current role as principal research director at Pearson, she leads the development of diagnostic tests for speech, language, and early childhood in Clinical Assessment. Since receiving her clinical training at the University of Kansas, Shannon has created preschool curriculum for children with language impairment and children learning English as a second language. She also participated in transdisciplinary assessments for infants and toddlers as well as school-age children and adolescents.  Shannon is a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and frequently presents webinars on assessment administration and interpretation as well as coauthoring journal articles on identification of specific language impairment in school populations.