January 2, 2008

Dear Friends,

I want to introduce myself as the new Chief Science Officer at Autism Speaks. Let me begin by saying that I consider it an honor to be part of this organization. As a person who feels passionate about helping individuals with autism and their families, I am eager to collaborate with you to fulfill the mission of Autism Speaks.

People often ask me how I became involved in the autism field. One of the first experiences that shaped my commitment to autism was meeting a family who lived across the street from me when I was a teenager. This family consisted of a mother who was a nurse, a father who was struggling with a terminal illness, a ten-year-old, highly competent daughter, twin rambunctious 5 year old boys with autism, and an elderly grandfather. Every weekend, the mother would travel out of town with her husband so that he could receive dialysis for his kidney disease. My job was to take care of the children and grandfather. As I became part of this family, I not only grew to love the children, but also came to admire the mother as a role model and hero. Her devotion and love for her family and can-do attitude were truly inspirational to me. I resolved to aspire to her level of compassion for others.

My next experience with autism occurred when I was a graduate student at the University of Washington majoring in developmental and clinical psychology. My primary interests were in child clinical psychology, developmental neuroscience, and neuropsychology. During my first clinical practicum, the first case I was assigned was a young boy with autism. Autism was such a rare phenomenon in those days that a Grand Rounds was held and Eric Schopler was flown in from North Carolina to review the little boy's case. As I came to know this boy and his family, they captured both my mind and my heart - my mind because I knew that if we could understand autism, we would understand something very fundamental about our core nature as human beings, and my heart because it was tragic that we had so little to offer in the way of help for this beautiful child and his loving parents. I decided then and there that I would devote my career to understanding and helping individuals with autism. For me, it was truly a calling.

Despite the fact that no one on the UW faculty was a specialist in autism, I conducted my dissertation research on brain function (EEG) and anatomy (CT scans) in autism, seeking input from specialists across the country. One of the delights of conducting my doctoral dissertation research was spending many hours with each of the children with autism who participated in my research. We swam in Lake Washington, went to the movies, played games, and generally just hung out for hours as I learned more about autism first hand. After graduate school, I studied as a postdoctoral fellow at the Neuropsychiatric Institute at UCLA with several renowned autism experts and, a year later, accepted a position as Assistant Professor at University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. About 5 years later, I returned to the University of Washington as a faculty member where I continued my research on autism and practiced as a clinical psychologist specializing in autism. Before I became too busy with administration and research, I spent several hours a week conducting diagnostic and neuropsychological evaluations for well over 1,000 individuals with autism throughout their lifespan, and provided therapy and developed behavioral and educational plans for parents, schools, and group homes for individuals with autism from infancy through late adulthood.

During the past 10 years, I have had the good fortune of founding and directing the UW Autism Center in Seattle. The Center employs over 100 individuals, including administrative staff, clinicians, and scientists. The Center's multidisciplinary clinical team provides services for over 600 children and their families each year and includes specialists in the areas of psychology, applied behavior analysis, speech-language therapy, OT, developmental behavioral pediatrics, child psychiatry, sleep disorders, and gastroenterology. Services include diagnostic, educational, psychiatric, medical, and neuropsychological assessments, early intensive behavioral intervention, social skills training, speech-language and occupational therapy, psychopharmacological treatment, sleep disorders and GI assessments, among other services. The Center's research program has specialized in the areas of early detection, early intervention and brain plasticity, neuroimaging (ERP, fMRI), and genetics, with a focus on endophenotypes and quantitative trait models. I have been closely involved in all aspects of the Center's research program. Recent areas of development in the center include environmental toxicity, animal models, biological risk markers, and pharmacogenetics. Over 35 M.D./Ph.D. level faculty from 14 academic departments provide leadership at the Center. The Center's research program has been well-funded as part of the NIH CPEA, STAART, and ACE programs.

I have been blessed with great colleagues who enjoy each other and make each day interesting, meaningful, and fun. I loved my job! So, why would I choose to leave UW and come to Autism Speaks? As I said to Autism Speaks President Mark Roithmayr in my first interview with him, my motivation to come to Autism Speaks comes more from the heart than from the head. The potential of what Autism Speaks can accomplish is truly phenomenal! I hope that by joining the efforts at Autism Speaks, I will be able to use my skills to maximize that potential for the benefit of people with autism and their families. I enjoy the breadth of scientific knowledge that the job at Autism Speaks will require. I am eager for a new challenge and look forward to working on larger scale on projects that will have a broader reach in their impact. My goal will be to accelerate the pace and scope of research so that effective treatments will be available to families, causes will be discovered, and eventually autism will be prevented and cured.

I look forward being part of the Autism Speaks team.

Sincerely yours,