In Addition to History

WILLIAM ATKINS
[institutes]
Inaugural Director Named
for Autism Institute
Yale researcher takes helm of the new endeavor aimed at becoming
the go-to center for research and services in the D.C. area
Early in his career, as a researcher at Duke
University, Kevin Pelphrey was studying
the development of the so-called social
brain, which governs facial recognition, eye
gaze and other functions related to personal
interaction.
At the time, more than a decade ago, his
work only touched on autism spectrum disorder
(ASD), of which deficits in social functioning
are a hallmark. But his focus changed
after his 3-year-old daughter was diagnosed
with autism.
“Before, I was intellectually interested
in helping people, but I never imagined that
I could see treatments that will benefit my
child in my lifetime,”
Dr. Pelphrey says. “It
does give me drive.”
Dr. Pelphrey,
now a leading ASD
researcher, brings
that passion to GW,
where this winter
he became the inaugural
director of the
university’s Autism
and Neurodevelopmental
Disorders
Institute.
The institute was
created in partnership
with Children’s
National Medical
Center with the aim
of becoming the go-to place for cross-disciplinary
research on autism, which is estimated
to affect 1 in 68 children in the United
States. Dr. Pelphrey says much of the institute’s
work will focus on less-studied topics:
expanding the body of research on autism in
girls (the disorder is almost five times more
common among boys), developing interventions
for adolescents and adults with autism,
and helping them transition to adulthood.
The institute, which will be based on the
Virginia Science and Technology Campus in
Ashburn, Va., also will seek to inform public
I would like for
anyone in the D.C.
area who Googles
‘autism’ to see
that they have a
place to come that
has everything
they need.
Kevin Pelphrey
policy and legislative efforts aimed at making
accessible and affordable services available
for adolescents and adults with autism and
neurodevelopmental disabilities.
Dr. Pelphrey comes to GW from Yale University,
where he served as the Harris Professor
in the Yale Child Study Center, a professor
of psychology and the founding director of
Yale’s Center for Translational Developmental
Neuroscience. He has active research grants
totaling around $20 million, including work
as the lead researcher of a network studying
the neurogenetics of females with ASD, part
of the National Institutes of Health’s Autism
Centers of Excellence Program.
Research on the
social brain and
improved brain
imaging have led
to a better understanding
of autism
in girls, which, until
recently, was more
difficult to detect,
Dr. Pelphrey says.
“Girls develop
their social brain
earlier, which insulates
them,” he says.
“It means they can
have a genetic risk
without presenting
symptoms because
their brains are
compensating. We study how their brains are
compensating and can hopefully apply those
principles to help children and adolescents
with autism cope.”
Dr. Pelphrey “understands the science
behind the disorder and the importance of
approaching it not just as a diagnosis but
in a more holistic fashion,” says GW’s Vice
President for Research Leo Chalupa. “I am
confident that he will build the institute into
a top-tier resource for individuals with autism
and their families.”
Dr. Pelphrey’s position—as the inaugural
Carbonell Family Professor in Autism and
Neurodevelopmental Disorders—was created
as a gift of Board of Trustees Chair Nelson
Carbonell, whose son Dylan was diagnosed
with autism when he was 2 years old.
“To see a university that wants to get into
this game and to see that the chair of the
Board of Trustees is someone who wants to
drive that research is the most wonderful
thing,” Dr. Pelphrey says. “It’s like the entire
university is in line with a singular vision.”
More than 80 faculty members from the
Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, the
School of Law, the Graduate School of Education
and Human Development, the School of
Medicine and Health Sciences and the Milken
Institute School of Public Health currently
work on projects related to autism and neurodevelopmental
disorders.
Looking ahead long term, Dr. Pelphrey says
he envisions the creation of a summer course
for clinicians and families who are planning
for the transition to adulthood for adolescents
with autism; an undergraduate course for
students interested in autism research, and,
someday, a residential college within the
university for college-age young adults with
autism.
Eventually, he says, “I would like for
anyone in the D.C. area who Googles ‘autism’
to see that they have a place to come that has
everything they need.” —Brittney Dunkins
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