World Autism Day: How JHSPH Researchers are Addressing Autism
Observed on April 2, 2018, World Autism Day kicks off a month-long international initiative to “increase understanding and acceptance and foster worldwide support” of autism. Here's how six researchers are addressing autism at the Bloomberg School.
Gazi Azad, PhD
Mental Health, Kennedy Krieger Institute
Azad is a clinical psychologist with a background in school psychology who is concentrating on school-based mental health services research. Azad’s research focuses on promoting family-school partnerships for underserved children with psychiatric and developmental disabilities. A major emphasis of her work is to enhance the continuity of care received by children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in underserved communities. Her research targets communication and collaboration between stakeholders to ensure consistent implementation of evidence-based practices across contexts and, ultimately, better child outcomes.
- Partners in School: An Innovative Parent-Teacher Consultation Model for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Concerns of Parents and Teachers of Children with Autism in Elementary School
Dani Fallin, PhD
Mental Health, Wendy Klag Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities
Fallin’s interests are in applying genetic epidemiology methods to studies of neuropsychiatric disorders including autism, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder and in developing applications and methods for epigenetic epidemiology, particularly as applied to mental health and development.
- Blood-based Epigenetic Research May Hold Clues to Autism Biology
- Autism Studies Hampered by Lack of Reliable Test for Gut Problems
Luke Kalb, PhD
Mental Health, Kennedy Krieger Institute
Kalb’s research focuses on improving mental health outcomes among vulnerable populations, with a focus on youth and individuals with a developmental disability. His primary research interests involve understanding the phenomenology, epidemiology and treatment of mental health crises. His research portfolio also extends to assessing the effectiveness of community-based mental health programs, psychometrics and measure development, developing methods to address selection bias, and use of health information systems and emerging technologies to improve clinical care and research methodologies.
- Management of Mental Health Crises Among Youths With and Without ASD: A National Survey of Child Psychiatrists
- Psychometric Characteristics of the Mental Health Crisis Assessment Scale in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Christine Ladd-Acosta, PhD
Ladd-Acosta’s primary research interest is to understand the molecular underpinnings of autism. Recent evidence suggests both genetic and environmental factors are involved in the etiology of autism, yet no single factor has been conclusively identified to date. Ladd-Acosta’s research is focused on integrating genome-wide genotyping, genome-scale epigenetic and prenatal environmental exposure data, at a population level, to understand how these factors influence autism risk and to identify biologic pathways that could serve as molecular targets for prevention and intervention efforts. This work is carried out through collaborations with both U.S.-based and international epidemiology studies and research consortia. Additionally, Ladd-Acosta is pursuing the development of new molecular epigenetic methods and tools to enable the next generation of epidemiology studies, more broadly.
- Cross-tissue Integration of Genetic and Epigenetic Data Offers Insight into Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Study Finds Way to Track Exposures that May Contribute to Autism
Li-Ching Lee, PhD
Lee is a psychiatric epidemiologist with research interests in global autism, autism surveillance, and neurodevelopmental disorders. She leads the Maryland site of the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, a project funded by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide comparable, population-based estimates of the prevalence rates of autism and related disorders from different sites over time. Internationally, Lee has been leading autism epidemiologic studies in Taiwan, China, and Bangladesh. Related to these efforts, Lee has been ensuring that widely used autism assessment tools are culturally appropriate and scientifically validated for various language speaking populations, and she has been implementing comprehensive parent-mediated intervention for children with autism specifically targeting for underserved populations.
- Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health: Li-Ching Lee Reaches Out
- Autism Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network
- Sage Special Issue On: Global Autism Research
Heather Volk
Broadly, Volk’s research seeks to identify gene-environment interactions with neurodevelopmental disorders and, more specifically, on the effects of prenatal and early-life air pollution exposure on risk for autism spectrum disorder, inattention, and delayed cognitive development. Genetics, disease biomarkers and environmental exposure biomarkers are incorporated into the evaluation of these relationships to examine underlying biological mechanisms, improve exposure metrics and evaluate susceptibility.
- Flurry of Studies Hint at Folic Acid's Protective Role in Autism
- Traffic-related Air Pollution, Particular Matter, and Autism
Related: