Melissa A. O’Connell Liggett, Ph.D. Developmental Psychologist
Melissa A. O’Connell Liggett, Ph.D., is a licensed developmental psychologist in Washington, D.C., and California. Dr. O’Connell Liggett obtained a doctoral degree in applied developmental psychology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where her studies and research interests included child assessment, social-emotional development and family functioning in families of preterm infants. She completed pre- and postdoctoral training in the Child Development Program at Children’s National Hospital where she further honed her skills in the areas of infant assessment and early identification of autism spectrum disorders.
Dr. O’Connell Liggett left Children’s National in 2009 to broaden her skills in early childhood assessment, joining the Developmental Evaluation Clinic at Rady Children’s Hospital, San Diego, California. There she provided comprehensive developmental evaluations for children from birth to 6 years of age, with a primary focus on high-risk infant assessment due to prematurity or prenatal substance exposure, children in foster care, autism spectrum disorder, and early attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. She also worked as part of a multi-disciplinary outpatient feeding clinic for preschool-aged children.
In 2016, Dr. O’Connell Liggett returned to her hometown and Children’s National. She rejoined the Child Development Program where she is now responsible for the NICU Fellows Follow-up Clinic, providing training on newborn assessment to the hospital’s neonatology fellows and follow-up developmental evaluations for graduates of the neonatal intensive care unit.
Address: 111 Michigan Ave. NW; Washington, D.C., 20010
Email: [email protected]
Department: MRI Lab
Recent publications & presentations
2025 | April
Weiner S, Cheng JJ, Wu Y, Liggett M, McCants C, Adegbulugbe E, Mears A, Henderson D, Limperopoulos C, Andescavage N. "Neonatal Hippocampal Volumes Are Associated With Toddler Behavior in Children Born During the COVID-19 Pandemic." High-scoring Oral Abstract. Pediatric Academic Societies 2025. Honolulu, Hawaii. April 2025.
Amick J, Liggett M, Limperopoulos C, Andescavage N. "Assessing Neonatal Neurobehavior: Detailed Comparison of the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale With the NeoNatal Neurobehavioral Scale-II" Poster presentation. Children’s National Hospital 15th Annual Research, Education and Innovation Week. Washington, D.C. March-April 2025.
Weiner S, Cheng JJ, Wu Y, Liggett M, McCants C, Adegbulubge E, Mears A, Henderson D, Andescavage N, Limperopoulos C. “Maternal Stress and Anxiety: The Connective Thread Between Infant Brain Development and Toddler Social-Emotional Behavior” Poster presentation. Children’s National Hospital 15th Annual Research, Education and Innovation Week. Washington, D.C. March-April 2025.
Weiner S, Wu Y, Liggett M, McCants C, Adegbulubge E, Mears A, Henderson D, Andescavage N, Limperopoulos C. “Neurodevelopmental Consequences of In Utero COVID-19 Exposure” Poster presentation. Children’s National Hospital 15th Annual Research, Education and Innovation Week. Washington, D.C. March-April 2025.
Weiner S, Wu Y, Liggett M, McCants C, Adegbulubge E, Mears A, Henderson D, Andescavage N, Limperopoulos C. “Newborn Brain As the Basis of Early Childhood Development in a Normative Healthy Cohort” Poster presentation. Children’s National Hospital 15th Annual Research, Education and Innovation Week. Washington, D.C. March-April 2025.
Wu Y, Andescavage N, Liggett M, Ngwa JS, Kapse A, Kapse K, McDermott CE, Donofrio MT, Wisner KL, Wessel D, du Plessis AJ, Limperopoulos C. “Elevated Prenatal Maternal Psychological Distress Is Associated With Impaired Neurodevelopment in Toddlers With Congenital Heart Disease” Poster presentation. Children’s National Hospital 15th Annual Research, Education and Innovation Week. Washington, D.C. March-April 2025.
2024 | December
Ottolini KM, Ngwa J, Basu SK, Kapse K, Liggett M, Murnick J, Limperopoulos C, Andescavage N. “Brain Development Using a Multicomponent Intravenous Lipid Emulsion in Preterm Infants.” BMC Pediatrics. 2024 Dec 30;24(1):847. doi: 10.1186/s12887-024-05330-9. PMID: 39736580
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39736580
2023 | April
Andescavage N, Bullen T, Liggett M, Barnett SD, Kapse A, Kapse K, Ahmadzia H, Vezina G, Quistorff J, Lopez C, du Plessis A, Limperopoulos C. “Impaired in vivo feto-placental development is associated with neonatal neurobehavioral outcomes.” Pediatric Research. 2023 Apr;93(5):1276-1284. doi: 10.1038/s41390-022-02340-0. Epub 2022 Nov 5. PMID: 36335267; PMCID: PMC10147575
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36335267/