Kana joined CRAE as a PhD student in October 2018. She completed her undergraduate science degree at Northeastern University and a Master’s degree in Counselling Theory at Boston College.
Following this, she received a Distinction in her Postgraduate Certification in Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome at Sheffield Hallam University.
Kana’s PhD research at CRAE investigates loneliness in autistic adults, using mixed methods. Her research is particularly looking at the views and experiences of loneliness in autistic adults as well as the loneliness measurement tools for use in autistic adults. This research is supervised by Laura Crane and Anna Remington from CRAE and Bryn Lloyd-Evans from the Division of Psychiatry.
Outside of her role at CRAE, Kana is passionate about supporting autistic individuals more closely. In 2019, she started the first-ever Autistic Peer Group at UCL for autistic students (UCL Autism Society). Currently, she offers various support for autistic people including mentoring: https://gracecenterforautism.wixsite.com/grace
On the web: Twitter | Google Scholar | ORCID
Recent publications:
- Umagami, K., Remington, A., Lloyd-Evans, B., Davies, J., & Crane, L. (2022). Loneliness in autistic adults: A systematic review. Autism.
- Han, E., Scior, K., Heath, E. L., Umagami, K., & Crane, L. (2022). Development of stigma-related support for autistic adults: insights from the autism community.