Meet the Team

Dr. Cubells completed his undergraduate degree at the Johns Hopkins University and his doctoral degrees at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. After his internship (medicine, neurology, psychiatry) and residency (psychiatry) at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital and the New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York City, he completed a Readers Digest Research Fellowship at New York Hospital/Cornell University Medical College. He joined the Faculty of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine in 1995 as an Assistant Professor, and was promoted to Associate Professor there in 2003. While at Yale, he also served as an Attending Psychiatrist at the West Haven VA Medical Center. In 2004, Dr. Cubells joined the faculty at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, as an Associate Professor (with tenure) in the Departments of Human Genetics, and Psychiatry and Behavioral Science. He is on the teaching faculty of the programs in Neuroscience, and Genetics and Molecular Biology in the Emory Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, and in the Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology Program of Emory College. He has served on several Integrated Review Groups for the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and has received several national awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from the White House Office of Science and Technology. Dr. Cubells has been an attending psychiatrist at the Emory Autism Center since 2005, where he specializes in treatment of adults with autism. He became Director of Medical and Adult Services at the Center, in 2009.

Danielle completed her Master’s Degree in Nursing from Georgia State University in 1999. She is a Board Certified Psychiatric-Mental Health Clinical Nurse Specialist with over 28 years of experience working in neurology and mental health nursing. Danielle has worked with children, adolescents, adults and geriatric populations. Danielle joined the Emory Autism Center Team in 2015 and works closely with Dr. Cubells in the Psychopharmacology Service. She works with adult patients diagnosed with autism, chromosomal conditions and co-occurring mental health concerns. She is also Lead Psychiatric Consult for the DBHDD Adult Consultation Team providing consultation for high-risk clients in the state of Georgia. Ms. Belva is adjunct faculty with the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University and is dedicated to helping the nursing population understand the needs of persons with developmental differences.

Michael Epstein, MD, is a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist who divides his time between the Emory Autism Center and Emory's Child and Adolescent Mood Program (CAMP). Dr. Epstein spends most of his days in direct patient care but also supervises and teaches residents, fellows, and medical students. Dr. Epstein received his MD from American University of the Caribbean. He was born and raised in Atlanta, but jumped around for training and work for 14 years before returning home in 2018. Dr. Epstein enjoys working to build networks in Georgia and across the country so he can better serve his patients. When not working, Dr. Epstein enjoys spending time with his wife and kids and curating his rather large Lego collection. 

Dr. Aguayo is board certified in Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry by the ABPN. She earned her medical degree at Universidad Anahuac in Mexico City, Mexico, and a Master of Public Health degree at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ. She completed her psychiatry residency at New York Medical College, where she served as chief resident and then went on to pursue a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, CT. During her last year there, she was the John E. Showalter chief resident. Dr. Aguayo worked in Connecticut in both outpatient and inpatient settings focusing her practice on patients with autism with challenging behaviors. She moved to the University of Utah to head their Autism HOME program, an innovative medical home serving individuals with autism and related disabilities through the life span. She has also remained active in teaching and training at the Yale Child Study Center. She recently joined the Emory University School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences as an assistant professor. Her interests include Autism Spectrum Disorders and related disabilities, challenging behaviors, transition to adulthood and advocacy for families. She is committed to advancing the field by educating medical students, residents and fellows.