by Courtney Taylor
The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders (TRIAD) is changing its leadership structure to keep pace with its rapidly expanding portfolio of autism training, services and research.
Zachary Warren, Ph.D., has taken on the role of executive director for TRIAD while Pablo Juárez, M.Ed., will move into the role of director. Leadership changes coincide with the announcement of a five-year, $10 million training grant awarded to TRIAD by the Tennessee Department of Education. The award strengthens a 16-year partnership to provide education and training opportunities for school personnel throughout Tennessee.
“Our programs are growing with tremendous speed,” Warren said. “There has been an exponential increase in terms of our understanding of how common autism is, and in turn, our Center and University are responding by saying we need to designate leadership to ensure that our programs are keeping pace with that need.”
Warren says the new leadership structure will enable TRIAD to continue its high impact programs around teacher, administrator and para-educator trainings, and also will create opportunities for exploring new methods for delivering that training.
“We will be working toward aligning what are oftentimes siloed programs at other institutions to manage a synergistic array of training, clinical and research activities,” Warren said. “Pablo has been a tremendous leader in terms of shaping our relationship with educational, community and other service partners for the past several years. In his new role, he is gearing up to bolster those partnerships and to work to align them with programs across our University and other institutions across our state and region.”
“We could not be more thrilled to have such an effective leadership team in place for TRIAD,” said VKC Director Elisabeth Dykens, Ph.D., Annette Schaffer Eskind Professor. “Having talented and skilled individuals to lead the charge during a period of rapid change in the field of autism makes the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center well-suited to meet the growing needs of individuals with disabilities and families across our state. I congratulate Zack and Pablo for quadrupling the program reach, and thank them for their tireless efforts in making TRIAD a leader in training, services and research.”
