*Michael Aschner, assistant professor of pediatrics and pharmacology. Aschner's research focuses on the role of certain brain cells called
astrocytes in brain physiology and
pathology. He is specifically interested in the cause and consequences
of astrocytic swelling, the role they play in
heavy metal (mercury, manganese, and uranium) neurotoxicity, their role
in reducing neurotoxicity and their responses to chronic exposure to
ethanol. The study of these metals is timely, given potential exposure
of Gulf
War Veterans to depleted uranium, and concern about potential exposure
to manganese in the population at large.
Web site:
http://www.wfubmc.edu/physpharm/adjunctfaculty/aschner/
Debbie Derryberry, parent of
child with autism. Derryberry is a homemaker and mother. She lives in
Columbia, Tenn., with her two children, Amy and Ben, and her husband
Mark. Ben, who is now 11, was diagnosed with autism at 2. Amy is a very
typical 14-year-old. Since Ben’s diagnosis, Derryberry has worked
closely with teachers, administrators and therapists to develop
appropriate programs for Ben and other autistic children. She has been
active in parent support groups and has attended a variety of
educational seminars relating to autism.
*Elisabeth Dykens, professor of psychology, deputy director, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development. Dykens'
research identifies the neurobehavioral and developmental phenotypes of
persons with genetic mental retardation syndromes, including
Prader-Willi, Williams, Down, 5p-, fragile X, and Smith-Magenis
syndromes. Some of Dykens' work examines behavioral similarities and
differences across syndromes, and these findings help refine the
phenotype associated with each disorder. Yet most of Dykens' research
focuses on individual differences within syndromes, and addresses the
question of why people with the same disorder vary in their phenotypic
expression. Dykens is thus examining genetic, psychosocial and
developmental sources of individual differences within syndromes.
Web site: http://kc.vanderbilt.edu/people/show.aspx?id=261
*Kathryn Edwards, professor of
pediatrics; director, division of pediatric clinical research. Dr.
Edwards studies infectious pediatric diseases and is the vice chair for
clinical research at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Edwards
is currently leading a $12.6 million National Institutes of Health
contract with Vanderbilt to conduct trials and test new vaccines,
including a smallpox vaccine, as part of homeland defense efforts.
Temple Grandin, livestock
handling facility designer, author, adult with autism. As a designer of
livestock handling facilities, Grandin has made a living, and built a
certain fame, making more humane the last moments of life for cattle
and hogs sold for slaughter. Her distinctive approach is likely due to
the unique way her brain creates images, a brain that was labeled
"autistic" in 1950. In her books "Emergence: Labeled Autistic," and
"Thinking in Pictures," and in her DVD series, Grandin paints with
remarkable clarity the world in which she lives, describing how
language for her is not a string of words but constructed images.
Grandin will describe her experiences with autism and will shed light
on the diagnosis and the disease.
*Jonathan Haines, Morgan Professor of Human Genetics; professor of
molecular physiology and biophysics; investigator, Vanderbilt Kennedy
Center. Haines studies the localization and identification of genes
involved in human diseases including multiple sclerosis, autism, Alzheimer disease, age-related macular
degeneration, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, adult-onset glaucoma and epilepsy.
Web site: http://phg.mc.vanderbilt.edu/jonathan.htm
Leisa A. Hammett is the single
mother of a 10-year-old girl who has autism. She is active in local and
national disability advocacy and in the Autism Society of Middle
Tennessee. She has worked in communications, public relations and
journalism for more than 20 years and is currently writing a book
titled The Journey with Grace: A Mother's Reflections on Raising a Child with Autism.
*Craig Kennedy, professor of
special education; associate professor of pediatrics; director,
Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Behavioral Disorders Clinic. Kennedy studies
severe disabilities and gene-brain-behavior relations in aggression.
Web site:
http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/faculty/sped/kennedy.htm
*Pat Levitt, director,
Vanderbilt Kennedy Center; professor of pharmacology. Levitt’s
laboratory investigates the molecular and cellular mechanisms
underlying the development of circuits that are involved in cognitive
and social-emotional behavior and mood regulation. These basic
developmental neurobiological studies are designed to investigate the
molecular and developmental basis of neuropsychiatric and developmental
disorders, including schizophrenia, anxiety, attentional deficit
hyperactivity and mental retardation.
Web site: http://kc.vanderbilt.edu/people/show.aspx?id=197
*Susan McGrew, assistant
professor of pediatrics. McGrew specializes in treating children with
autism at the Vanderbilt Center for Child Development.
Pat Sanders has been an
advocate and grassroots lobbyist for public health for nearly 30 years.
She and her husband Robert, a pediatrician, were instrumental in making
Tennessee the first state to require child passenger safety seats in
1977. Sanders' 38-year-old son has Asberger syndrome.
Carolyn Schindler, Autism
Society of Middle Tennessee, parent of a child with autism. Carolyn
Shindler, wife of Bruce and mother to 14-year-old Josh, who is
on the autism spectrum, works part-time as a parent representative at
the Autism Society of Middle Tennessee (ASMT). She also is a
founding member of a local support group, the Parents of Autistic
Children Network and is active in the Families Acting as Classroom
Teachers Program through Vanderbilt Hospital's Family Resource
Center. She has also served as an ASMT Board Member and as a
member of the Regional Intervention Program's Parent Advisory Board,
the last year as chair of that group. Several years ago she
started an autism email newsletter, Autism Updates, which now reaches
over 350 families in Middle Tennessee and beyond. Since her son's
diagnosis in 1993, she has devoted much of her time and energy to
autism-related groups and causes.
*Donna Seger, assistant
professor of clinical medicine and emergency medicine, medical director
of the Tennessee Poison Center. Seger current supervises toxicology
admitting and outpatient services and acts as fellowship director for
the clinical toxicology training program in the Center for Clinical
Toxicology. Her research interests include carbon monoxide toxicity and
clinical outcome studies.
Susan Shackman, is currently a medical producer at the CBS Evening News. She has been with CBS for over 26 years, starting at the Captain Kangaroo show and working at most of the news broadcasts including the Early Show, the Weekend News and 60 Minutes Wednesday.
Along the way, Schackman was awarded three Emmys for coverage of
breaking news stories. Since 2001, she has been focusing on the
medical news beat with both professional and personal interest.
Her 16-year-old son has Asperger Syndrome.
Andy Shih, chief science officer, National Alliance for Autism Research. Shih is the primary coordinator of the NAAR Autism Genome Project and
has led NAAR's efforts to assemble leading genetic researchers from
around the world to collaborate on the project and to establish the
initiative as a public / private resesarch partnership between NAAR and
the National Institutes of Health. Shih has also worked with the NIH to
develop three additional public / private autism research partnerships
focusing on behavioral science and early diagnosis; language and
communications; and brain development. Shih oversees the administration
of NAAR's grant-making process for research.
John Shouse, Autism Society of
Middle Tennesse; parent of child with autism. John and his wife Janet
live in Frankllin, Tenn., with their three
children, including twin boys, Evan and Brendan. Evan was diagnosed at
age 2 with autism. John currently serves on the national Board of
Directors of the Autism Society of America and is the president of the
Autism Society of Middle Tennessee. A frequent speaker at autism
conferences and workshops, John is an active advocate for inclusive
education for children with disabilities and for increased supports and
services for individuals and families affected by autism.
*Wendy Stone, professor of pediatrics; professor of psychology;
director, Treatment and Research Institute on Autism Spectrum
Disorders; investigator, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center. Stone is a
nationally recognized autism expert and has served on several national
advisory panels about the diagnosis and treatment of autism. She
pioneered early screening of children with autism and is working on
extending her model of screening for 2-year-olds to children as young
as 12 months old.
*James Sutcliffe, assistant
professor of molecular physiology and biophysics; investigator,
Vanderbilt Kennedy Center. Sutcliffe's research dissects the genetics
of autism using a combination of
molecular and statistical genetic approaches. He studies the genetic
basis of autism spectrum disorders, molecular genetics, statistical
genetics, neurophychiatric genetics and other aspects of genetic
disorders.
Web site: http://medschool.mc.vanderbilt.edu/facultydata/php_files/part_dept/show_part.php?id3=880
*Mark Wolery, professor of
special education; investigator, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center. Mark Wolery
studies developmental disabilities and behavioral interventions,
inclusive education, early childhood education and intervention.
Web site: http://kc.vanderbilt.edu/people/show.aspx?id=255
Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsop,
medical epidemiologist and developmental pediatrician, National Center
on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. Dr. Yeargin-Allsopp’s research focuses on the
epidemiology of developmental disabilities in children and early
identification of developmental delays and developmental
conditions. Since coming to CDC in 1981, she has led
activities in the design and implementation of the first U.S.
population-based study of developmental disabilities in school-age
children in an urban area, which has served as the basis for an ongoing
CDC developmental disabilities surveillance system with autism as the
focus. Other developmental disabilities Dr. Yeargin-Allsopp has
studied include mental retardation, cerebral palsy, hearing loss,
vision impairment and epilepsy.
Web site: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd
*Paul Yoder, professor of
special education; investigator, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center. Yoder
sudies communication and language development and intervention in
children with language delays; mother-child linguistic and
prelinquistic interaction; and early intervention.
Web site: http://kc.vanderbilt.edu/people/show.aspx?id=258
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