Media

Dave Thompson, Project Manager for A-SCENE at FCAI. The Frist Center for Autism and Innovation is proud to announce that two of our exceptional staff members, Dr. Jessica Schonhut-Stasik and Dave Thompson, have been honored with the Nimoy-Knight Foundation’s ‘Live Long and Prosper’ Tribute Award for… Read More

FCAI Associate Director Dr. Dave Caudel In 2025, Associate Director Dr. Dave Caudel, collaborated with AutismTN as a scholar, to support the creation of a webinar series “Exploring Autistic Life and Culture”. The “Exploring Autistic Life and Culture” webinar series represents a groundbreaking community dialogue project… Read More

Dr. Jessica Schonhut-Stasik is a research scientist in astrophysics, the Director of Communications for the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation, and the CEO/President of The Neuroverse Initiative, a non-profit that works at the intersection of space science and neurodiversity. The Frist Center for Autism and Innovation is proud to… Read More

The Frist Center for Autism & Innovation (FCAI) at Vanderbilt University is proud to announce the successful convening of the inaugural NeuroCorps cohort on Monday and Tuesday this week. This brand-new program brings together six neurodivergent leaders, entrepreneurs, and business and non-profit leaders, comprising staff and visiting scholars, to… Read More

On September 7th, FCAI Director Keivan Stassun guested on the Imperfect Leaders Podcast, hosted by Jeffrey Cohn. From the Imperfect Leaders website: “There is no such thing as a perfect leader. We invite the country’s most admired leaders to talk about their imperfections and leadership journey.” Listen to the… Read More

We would love to extend our congratulations to Amber Crabtree, PhD Candidate and Neurodiversity Inspired Science and Engineering Fellow at the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation, candidly discussing her experience of autism, sensory issues, her research, and the importance of it on CBS’s This Morning. This piece also… Read More

We are so excited to share that TACT, one of our partner organizations, is featured in a dedicated episode of Mike Rowe’s new show, “People You Should Know.” Watching this episode will give you a tour around TACT’s new 19,000 sqft facility, introduce you to some of… Read More

We want to extend our deepest congratulations to Hari Srinivasan, one of our Neurodiversity Inspired Science and Engineering (NISE) fellows. Hari co-authored the foreword for the new book Autism for Dummies with Temple Grandin. Hari’s section of the foreword is provided below, along with a link for those interested in… Read More

Keivan Stassun, left, with Billy and Jennifer Frist, BS’93, who established the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation in 2018 at Vanderbilt University School of Engineering (John Russell/Vanderbilt University) We are thrilled to announce the release of an exciting article in Vanderbilt Magazine celebrating the groundbreaking work of the… Read More

We are excited to advertise a free viewing of the new documentary “Lost Potential: Unmasking the Autism Employment Crisis” in Nashville this month. This movie dives into a struggle many with autism face: gaining employment and remaining employed. Following the movie, there will be… Read More