By Emily Leclerc | Waisman Science Writer
After an extensive national search, the Waisman Center is delighted to welcome Lily Wagner, PhD, BCBA, as the new director of the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Clinic. She joins us from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville where she was a part of the Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders. A licensed clinical psychologist, Wagner specializes in working with young children between 18 months and 3-years-old while also pursuing research into identifying new tools and systems for early identification of autism and other neurodevelopmental differences.
Wagner took an interesting path to her current career. She was a ballet dancer and also worked in advertising in New York City. “I took a really circuitous route to where I am,” Wagner says. After realizing she felt unfulfilled in her work, she decided to go back to school. During her doctorate program at the University of Georgia, she became particularly interested in autism. “In my PhD all of my practicum and internship experiences were clinical which led to my interest in autism. Then during my postdoc at Vanderbilt, I did a lot of assessment and became really involved in research pursuits,” Wagner says.
She is excited to be at Waisman for the combination of opportunities to continue to help children and their families through her clinical work while also being able to bolster her line of research. “The field as a whole is not keeping pace with being able to offer both diagnostic and treatment services and so we have this huge gap in care between first concerns and service initiation. I am really motivated to address this and try to find new ways to work on these issues. Many of our old systems and tools that have been used for a long time are just not appropriate for every kid anymore. I want to start thinking of new solutions to try and help these families,” Wagner says.
In particular, Waisman’s close connections with the community were a big draw for her. She worked very closely with the Birth to Three program in Tennessee and was able to foster research collaborations and help disseminate resources to families. “I’m hopeful to start building closer relationships with the Birth to 3 programs and other community health systems in Wisconsin,” Wagner says. “I am also really looking forward to building relationships with community partners that we don’t have right now.” She wants to do everything that she can to improve the clinic’s overall offerings to ensure that families have access to as many resources as possible.
When Wagner is not at Waisman, her two young daughters keep her very busy. They love to spend ample amounts of time outdoors hiking and exploring the lakes. Wagner is also an avid runner and is thrilled by Madison’s many great trails.
“In the south, it is pretty unbearable for most of the summer so you can’t spend a ton of time outside. So, I am excited to be outside here as much as possible.” Wagner says. She is also always looking for good restaurant recommendations and is very much looking forward to exploring Madison’s food scene.