John D. Wiley Conference Center

Dr. Stephen Scherer’s research includes understanding the composition of the human genome for studies of genetic disease built around three themes: 1) gene copy number and structural variation in the human genome, 2) determining the genetic architecture in autism spectrum and related- disorders and using this information to help families, and 3) developing infrastructure and capacity in Canada for translational genomics research.

Dr. Peng is a member of both the Structural Biology and Developmental Neurobiology departments at St. Jude and serves as the director of the Center for Proteomics and Metabolomics. His research involves using mass spectrometry-based proteomics, metabolomics and systems biology to understand mechanisms of human disease.

Dr. Maddox is an assistant Professor in the department of psychiatry. As the implementation scientist at TEACCH, her work focuses on improving community services for people on the autism spectrum across the lifespan.

Dr. Kaiser is the Director of KidTalk and the Susan W. Gray Professor of Education and Human Development at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. She serves as the principal investigator for the research and demonstration grants at KidTalk. She has published more than 160 articles and chapters on early language interventions for children with language delays and developmental disabilities, and for children at risk due to poverty.

Anna Esbensen, PhD, is an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. She studies the lifespan development of individuals with Down syndrome and provides clinical services to families of children with Down syndrome.

Peter K. Todd, M.D., Ph.D., is the Bucky and Patti Harris Professor and Associate Chair of research in the Department of Neurology in the University of Michigan Medical School. Todd’s lab studies the mechanisms by which nucleotide repeat expansions cause neurological disorders with a long term goal of developing novel therapeutics for these currently untreatable conditions.

Julie Lounds Taylor, Ph.D. is the Transitions Lab Principal Investigator (PI) and lab director. She is an associate professor of pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and an investigator at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development. A major focus of Taylor’s research is on factors that promote a positive transition into adulthood for individuals with developmental disabilities, in particular those with autism spectrum disorder.

Most infants and toddlers have a prodigious ability to learn, in part because they spend a lot of time interacting with caregivers. In the Princeton Baby Lab, we study how the mechanisms of infant cognition and the details of environmental experience combine to shape early learning. In particular, we study the beginnings of language learning and communication.

Dr. Meyer is associate professor of medical and molecular genetics at Indiana University School of Medicine, with adjunct appointments in ophthalmology and the Stark Neurosciences Research Institute. His research focuses upon the differentiation of retinal ganglion cells from human pluripotent stem cells, including the derivation of glaucoma models through iPS cell reprogramming as well as Crispr/Cas9 gene editing. Ongoing projects in his lab explore the use of these cells for studies of RGC development as well as mechanisms underlying glaucomatous neurodegeneration.

Dr. Wu is a magnetic resonance imaging physicist by training. Her research focuses on diffusion physics in biologic system using diffusion MRI. She started to work on diffusion MRI extensively in her graduate education. She continued to advance in this field independently at Dartmouth College (2009-2013) and currently at Indiana University School of Medicine.

Dr. Bishop is an associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Weill Institute for Neurosciences at UCSF. She is a clinical psychologist with expertise in assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Her research and clinical interests are focused on ASD symptom manifestations in individuals of different ages and levels of ability, as well as on differentiating between ASD and other developmental disabilities across the lifespan.