Vanderbilt Kennedy Center

A comprehensive, multidisciplinary clinic serving patients with Prader-Willi syndrome recently opened at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a complex genetic disorder that affects appetite, growth, metabolism, cognitive function and behavior. It is characterized by the inability to achieve satiety, developmental delays and intellectual disability,… Read More

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

“Day Boy Night Girl” by Sarah E. Vaughn is on view at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center exhibit “Breaking Ground” through June. Whether we realize it or not, we often silence individuals who have intellectual and developmental disabilities because of our own inability to communicate with those unlike ourselves. 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 mutation associated with epilepsy and autism also is responsible for a “pale eye” trait in two rare genetic disorders, Angelman syndrome and Prader-Willi syndrome, neuroscientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center reported this week. Read More

Jeffrey Neul, M.D., Ph.D., division head of Child Neurology and vice chair for Developmental Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego, will present a lecture on Friday, Dec. 16, at Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (VKC). Read More

Vittorio Gallo, Ph.D., Wolf-Pack Chair in Neuroscience Research and director of the Center for Neuroscience Research with the Children’s Research Institute at Children’s National Medical Center, will present a lecture on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (VKC). Read More

Stephen Camarata, Ph.D., professor of Hearing and Speech Sciences and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, has been invited to serve a four-year term on the Communication Disorders Review Committee (CDRC) of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). Read More

Pablo Juárez, M.Ed., director of the Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders (TRIAD) in the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, has been named Educator of the Year by The Arc, the nation’s largest community-based organization advocating for and serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. Read More

Children with Prader-Willi Syndrome who received growth hormone treatment had cognitive advantages compared to untreated patients. 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

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

The seventh annual ACM Lifting Lives Music Camp, a partnership between the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center and the Academy of Country Music, convened June 22-29. 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

Elisabeth Dykens, Ph.D., Annette Schaffer Eskind Professor and director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (VKC), has announced plans to step down from her role as the center’s director. To assist with the transition, she will continue to serve in this role until a successor is identified. 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

The Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) recognized the contributions of Vanderbilt University’s Pablo Juárez, M.Ed., and Samantha Goldman at its recent 2015 Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. 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

U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, fourth from left, recently met with Vanderbilt Kennedy Center leadership and Next Steps at Vanderbilt students to celebrate VKC’s 50th anniversary. Read More