9th Annual International Meeting For Autism Research ... - Confex

IMFAR 2010 Scientific Program
Dear IMFAR Attendees,
We have instituted many exciting changes this year in the scientifi c program that we hope will enhance your experience. Included in the
Program Book are the titles, locations and times of the more than 950 accepted abstracts.
Program
There are several new features this year that address our goal of providing research themes that more directly refl ect interests of IMFAR
attendees and INSAR membership. First, the Invited Educational Symposia (IES) all were chosen from member submissions, rather than topics
solicited directly by the Program Committee. Our hope is that this will increase the diversity and timeliness of research topics presented.
Second, we included hour-long Scientifi c Panels of three or four closely linked presentations on the same topic or study, chosen from more
than 30 submissions. Our hope is this will allow for a more in-depth presentation of research fi ndings than is often allowed through our more
traditional formats.
Based on the success of the Special Interest Group (SIG) on Sleep at the 2009 meeting, we have expanded to six SIGs. These SIGs will take
place at lunch time on Thursday and Friday, and offer IMFAR attendees opportunities to network with those who share similar research
interests. Also, we have continued and expanded the Technology Demonstration Session that will take place on Friday morning, and presents
innovative developments in technology related to autism research and practice.
The meeting is organized into six half day intervals, each with a separate section in the Program Book. Each morning starts with a Keynote
Speaker, followed by a Coffee Break. During the next two hours, we have the Invited Educational Symposium (IES), composed of three or four
speakers, which occurs in parallel with three Oral Sessions. Throughout the morning, one has the option to visit posters (up for the entire
morning). Presenters will be present for at least the hour indicated by the time stated in the program. The Program Book lists every presented
abstract, especially the posters, which comprise more than 80% of all presentations.
POSTER PRESENTATIONS: All Posters will be presented for a half day in Franklin Hall on the fourth fl oor. You will fi nd the push pins needed to
hang your posters in each room. Your poster should be up during the full 4 hour period of the session. While you are welcome to be at your
poster for the entire half day, please attend your poster during the one-hour period starting at the assigned time noted in the Program Book.
Please promptly remove your poster at the end of each session, especially after the morning session, so that the afternoon presenters can
prepare their posters in a timely manner.
The afternoon starts with lunch. This year, you will receive gift certifi cates to Reading Terminal Market, the oldest continuously operating public
market in the United States, with more than 80 vendors. This Philadelphia institution is across 11th Street on the east side of the conference
hotel. The market offers a diversity of options and allows you to quickly get lunch and return to the hotel for various conference-related lunch
time activities.
The second poster session of the day starts after lunch. Also immediately after lunch, there is another series of parallel IES and Oral
presentations, followed by a coffee break. On Thursday following the break, Dr. Tom Insel, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, will
provide a brief update on NIMH activities. This will be followed by the Lifetime Achievement Award presentation to Dr. Edward Ritvo and then a
reception, to which all are welcome. On Friday following the afternoon break, there will be parallel Oral Sessions and Scientifi c Panels. The day
will end with the Special Presidential Lecture by Jacqui Russel entitled “The Red Kite Project: Entertaining Children With Autism.” On Saturday,
the day will end after the afternoon IES and Oral presentation. This year we expect the fl ow of the meeting oral presentations to be enhanced
by use of the Confex recording system. All presentation will be loaded ahead of time, and attendees can view all Keynotes, IESs and Lifetime
Achievement Award presentations online at the INSAR website after the meeting.
The Program Book is organized in sections for each half day. To provide an overview of each half day’s schedule, the entire program is briefl y
described over the fi rst few pages. This way you can view Keynotes and IES sessions without having to page through the titles of every abstract
in the Oral and Poster sessions. Each half day lists every abstract presentation that occurs, eight of them in each Oral Session, and about 160
poster presentations in each half day. The Author Name Index at the back links abstracts to their authors alphabetically by author. Abstract
numbers in bold indicate the presenting author.
The Abstract Book contains all abstracts in order of presentation and also the descriptions of the Keynote addresses, Lifetime Achievement
Award Presentation, and IES Organizers and Speakers. It also contains the Author Name Index. This book is available in PDF format from
the INSAR website. We hope this meeting structure and Program/Abstract Books provide a more rich experience for the autism community,
especially as we continue to grow at such a remarkable pace.
We would like to acknowledge the tireless contributions of Allena Buchholz of Confex for her dedication to the processes of abstract submission
and review and Program and Abstract Book preparation and Joe Dymek of Conference Direct for meeting planning, organization and
implementation.
David Mandell, ScD
Scientifi c Program Committee Chair
Manny DiCicco-Bloom, MD
Scientifi c Program Committee Co-Chair
President’s Address/Scientific Program
9th Annual International Meeting For Autism Research (IMFAR) 2010 3