Dr. Hughes-Lika has been providing evidence-based services for children with autism and related disorders for over 21 years. She has been board certified since 2001 and is a licensed behavior analyst in the state of Nevada. She is also an Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) Certified Therapist. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in both Psychology and Sociology from Saint Ambrose University, in 1999. She then relocated to Denver, CO and worked for an organization providing behavior analytic services, and in 2001 she obtained her BCaBA certification. In 2004, she obtained a Master of Arts degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from The Ohio State University, studying under Professors Cooper, Heron, and Heward. Her thesis consisted of the assessment and treatment of automatically-maintained problem behavior, under the supervision of Dr. Stephanie Peterson. In 2015, she earned her PhD in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities from the University of Kent, in the UK. Her dissertation focused on the development of a 12-week parent-mediated naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention (NDBI) for toddlers with ASD.