Vanderbilt Kennedy Center

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) have found that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be accurately diagnosed in young children via remote, telemedicine assessments, a method that could significantly increase access and reduce wait times for autism services. In a first-of-its-kind study, the researchers compared the accuracy of rapid… Read More

The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) announced its 2018 award recipients, which include three people affiliated with the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (VKC). Read More

Arie Nettles, PhD, associate professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Vanderbilt Kennedy Center member, has been appointed by Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam as chair of the Statewide Planning and Policy Council of the Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD). Nettles has served as a member of the council since 2014. Read More

  Autism researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and two other universities have received a $2.99 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to conduct a four-year multisite project investigating the impact of theatre and peer mediation on the social competence of youth with autism spectrum… Read More

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