Education Members and Affiliates
Ester Cole, Ph.D.
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Dr. Ester/Esti Cole, Ph.D., is an AJP EC Committee member and Chair of its Education Committee. She was a psychologist in private practice until April 2024. At the Toronto Board of Education, she was a Senior Team Coordinator of psychologists. Her work has focused extensively on the development of multicultural, clinical, systems’ consultation, and school psychology broad services. In addition to supervision and mentoring, she taught as an adjunct professor (graduate level) at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/ UT and at York University. She was a multi-year consultant to the former NGO, The International Children’s Institute, which supported the adjustment of refugee and immigrant children in schools. Known for her consultation models, Dr. Cole has written and co-authored numerous research and advocacy articles in recognised journals and professional publications; served on editorial boards, has contributed to manuals, and has co-edited books. She is the recipient of several Awards of Merit.
Dr. Cole has lectured in several countries and has been a member/advisor of various committees and task forces focusing on mental health program development for children and youth. She was the President of the Canadian Association of School Psychologists, and Chair of the Psychology Foundation of Canada (PFC, currently on both its Advisory and Program Committees). Dr. Cole was President of the Section on Psychology in Education (OPA, currently on Council), and President of the Ontario Psychological Association. She was also the President of the Canadian Register of Health Service Psychologists. At OPA, she was chair-Disaster Response Network, and the Canadian Representative on the APA/DRN Advisory Committee. She is a CPA Fellow, a member of the Doctoral Accreditation Site Visit Teams, and member of its committees: Professional Affairs(to 2024), Human Rights and Equity, and Co-Chair of Fellows and Awards. She is a member of the CJSP editorial board. Past College of Psychologists of Ontario committees: Registration and Client Relations. At APA (to 2021): Council of Representatives-COR (was also member of CDWG, Caucus effectiveness WG; Civility WG), and an elected member of the Board of Professional Affairs. Dr. Cole was a member of the EDI-Collaborative, and an executive member of the Police and Citizens WG. She served as an elected member to the APA Commission for the Recognition of Specialties and Subspecialties in Professional Psychology. She will return to serve on COR in January, 2026.
Daniel Burston, Ph.D.
Daniel Burston, Ph.D., received his doctorate in Psychology from York University in Toronto and is an Emeritus Professor and former Chair of Psychology at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.
He is a historian of the mental health disciplines, whose books and articles dwell on the areas where psychology, psychoanalysis and psychiatry converge, overlap and intersect with religion, philosophy and politics.
His books include The Legacy of Erich Fromm (Harvard University Press, 1991), The Wing of Madness The Life and Work of R.D.Laing (1996), Erik Erikson and the American Psyche: Ego, Ethics and Evolution (Jason Aronson, 2007), A Forgotten Freudian: The Passion of Karl Stern (Karnac, 2016), Psychoanalysis, Politics and the Postmodern University (Palgrave MacMIllen, 2020) Antisemitism and Analytical Psychology: Jung, Politics and Culture (Routledge, 2021).
Gerry Leisman, MD, Ph.D
Gerry Leisman is a Full Professor and Research Fellow at the University of Haifa in Israel and concurrently Professor of Restorative Neurology at the University of Medical Sciences in Havana, Cuba. He studies the relation between movement and cognition developmentally, examining mechanisms of self-organizing systems in the brain that can be applied to fetal, neonatal, infant, and child development of sensation/perception, memory, cognition, autism, developmental disabilities, movement, and gait. He was one of the first to identify functional disconnectivities and the integration of brain networks. Functional disconnection refers to a situation where there is a lack of communication or coordination between different areas of the brain, which can impact cognitive functioning and behavior. Gerry Leisman is a notable figure in the field of neuroeducation, which combines neuroscience, psychology, and education to enhance learning processes. His work focuses on understanding how brain functions relate to educational practices and how this knowledge can be applied to improve teaching and learning outcomes.
Leisman’s research focuses on how various brain regions work together to support complex behaviors and how disruptions in these networks can lead to various neurological and psychological conditions. His work has implications for understanding disorders such as autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine (UK), was elected Fellow of the Association for Psychological Sciences in 1990, a Senior Member of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society in 1986, a Life Fellow of the International Association for Functional Neurology & Rehabilitation in 2010, and its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011. He has published hundreds of papers and texts in the Neurosciences, Developmental Sciences, Cognitive Science, Biomedical Engineering, and Systems Sciences literature.
Madeline Altabe, PhD.
Dr. Madeline Altabe is a licensed psychologist with research and clinical interests in body image and eating disorders. She graduated with a B.A. in Social Psychology from New College of Florida and studied Clinical and Community Psychology in graduate school earning a M.A. and PhD.
She has worked in academia, non-profits as well as private practice. She currently serves as the Program Coordinator for the PsyD Program in Clinical Psychology at the Lyn J. Darby School of Psychology and Adolescent Counseling at Brenau University. She is a member of the Education Committee of the Association of Jewish Psychologists.
