Autism

A new Vanderbilt initiative aims to improve the lives of young adults with autism spectrum disorders who often end up socially isolated once they leave school. Read More

Terunaga Nakagawa, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, has received a two-year, $100,000 grant from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation to continue his studies of the molecular underpinnings of autism and other brain disorders. Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt have identified what may be a genetic “smoking gun” for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) — a mutation in the gene for the critical neuronal protein CaMKII. Read More

A protein that plays a powerful role in learning and memory may be a key to improving treatment of a rare autism spectrum disorder called Pitt-Hopkins syndrome (PTHS), a new study suggests. Read More

The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center has received a $3.5 million grant over five years from the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) to fund the Vanderbilt Consortium LEND for graduate-level training. Read More

A team of engineers and psychologists have developed a virtual reality driving simulator designed to help teenagers with autism spectrum disorder learn to drive, a key skill in allowing them to live independent and productive lives. Read More

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) has awarded three training and technical assistance grants totaling $3.25 million to Vanderbilt Kennedy Center’s Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders (TRIAD) to enhance statewide services for children with autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities from birth to kindergarten. Read More

Researchers at Columbia and Vanderbilt universities have made an important discovery in mice that has implications for understanding the gastrointestinal (GI) problems experienced by some children with autism. Read More

The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (VKC) is one of a select group of sites selected to launch SPARK, an online research initiative designed to become the largest autism study ever undertaken in the United States. Read More

The expansion of sleep education sessions through a research study will allow more parents to learn effective sleep strategies for children with autism spectrum disorder. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have established a link between the neurotransmitter serotonin and certain behaviors of some children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a link that may lead to new treatments for ASD. Read More

Dora Angelaki, Ph.D., the Wilhelmina Robertson Professor and chair of Neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, will provide a “computational perspective on autism” during the next Flexner Discovery Lecture on Thursday, Jan. 14. Read More

Julie Lounds Taylor, Ph.D., has been appointed to the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, (IACC) the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced recently. Read More

Beth Malow, M.D., M.S., has been appointed to the Tennessee Autism Spectrum Disorder Task Force, a new entity created to study and make recommendations to the Tennessee General Assembly regarding ways to improve access to programs and services for early screening, diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Tennessee. Read More

Children with autism who participated in a 10-week, 40-hour, theatre-based program showed significant differences in social ability compared to a group of children with autism who did not participate, according to a Vanderbilt study published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Read More

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) has awarded a five-year, $10 million training grant to Vanderbilt Kennedy Center’s Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders (TRIAD), continuing a 16-year partnership to provide education and training opportunities for school personnel throughout the state. Read More

There is growing evidence that disorders such as autism and schizophrenia involve deficits in what is called “multi-sensory processing,” the ability of the brain to properly integrate information coming in through the eyes, ears and other senses. Read More

The Clinical Neuroscience Scholars program, supported by the Marino Foundation and the Suzanne and Walter Scott Foundation, pairs students with both a basic science mentor to support their dissertation research and a clinical mentor to shadow. Read More

The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center will welcome Autism Partnership founder and co-director John McEachin, Ph.D., on Monday, Feb. 23, at 4:10 p.m. as he presents a lecture titled “Helping Children with ASD Become More Responsive Learners.” A reception will be held following the lecture. Read More

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has received a $1.8 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to join the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network. Read More