Alright – so, U.S Health and Human Services Secretary has announced new members for Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC). Autism Cares Act (used to be Combat Autism Act) passed Congress over a year ago which is where IACC is under. IACC is a Federal autism committee that has federal and public representatives to update and write a national strategic plan for autism which is sent to the U.S HHS Secretary and Congress.
It is where most of the country’s autism research, services and resources allocation ideas come from. I was a member in last IACC committee and was really hoping that we get another Minnesotan appointed. Sadly, as you can see the list below there is none. However, two of my favorite autism researchers whom I had the pleasure of serving with in the last committee were appointed. Dr. Mandell and Dr. Dawson are new and previous committee members. Congrats to them and everyone else. I wish you luck and look forward to hearing your recommendations and your work in this fun but complex task. So many autism children and families depend on your voice, expertise and skills. I know you will not disappoint them.
My friendly advice to you all would be relax, breathe, never take what parents say personally and always vote based on facts, your experience and expertise.
The public members appointed by Secretary Burwell to serve on the renewed IACC are:
David Amaral, Ph.D.
Dr. David Amaral is a new public member of the IACC. He is a Professor of Psychiatry, Behavioral Sciences and Neuroscience at the University of California, Davis. He is also Beneto Foundation Chair and Founding Research Director of the UC Davis MIND (Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders) Institute, and Director of the Autism BrainNet. Dr. Amaral conducts research on the neurobiology of ASD. He received a joint Ph.D. in psychology and neurobiology from the University of Rochester and carried out postdoctoral work at Washington University in neuroanatomy.
James Ball, Ed.D., B.C.B.A.-D.
Dr. Jim Ball has served on the IACC as a public member since 2012. He is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA-D) and President and CEO of JB Autism Consulting. He has worked in the autism field for more than 25 years, providing educational, employment, and residential services to children and adults affected with autism. He is a Board member of the Autism Society’s Board of Directors and is currently the Chair of the National Board. He received his Doctor of Education degree from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Samantha Crane, J.D.
Ms. Samantha Crane is a new public member of the IACC. She is Legal Director and Director of Public Policy at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) and an autistic self-advocate. Ms. Crane previously served as staff attorney at the Bazelon Center of Mental Health Law, focusing on enforcing the right to community integration as established by the Supreme Court in Olmstead v. L.C.. Ms. Crane holds a B.A. from Swarthmore College, with high honors, in Psychology, and she received her J.D. degree from Harvard Law School.
Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D.
Dr. Geraldine Dawson has served on the IACC as a public member since 2012. She is a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the Duke School of Medicine and a faculty member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences. Dr. Dawson also is Director of the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development and President of the International Society for Autism Research. Dr. Dawson is a licensed clinical psychologist and researcher who has published extensively on ASD, focusing on early detection, intervention, and early brain development. She received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology with a minor in Child Clinical Psychology from the University of Washington and was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California at Los Angeles.
Amy Goodman, M.A.
Ms. Amy Goodman is a new public member of the IACC. She is the Director of the Arc of the United States’ Autism NOW Resource and Information Center, which serves the needs of individuals with autism and their families. She is a self-advocate for individuals on the autism spectrum and holds a master’s degree in special education from Marshall University in West Virginia.
Shannon Haworth, M.A.
Ms. Shannon Haworth is a new public member of the IACC. She is the Public Health Program Manager for the Public Health team at Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) and a parent of a child on the autism spectrum. She has a master’s degree in Applied Behavior Analysis and a graduate certificate in Autism from Ball State University. She has also earned a Post Baccalaureate Graduate Certificate in Disability Leadership from Virginia Commonwealth University, is currently a doctoral candidate (DrPH) studying Public Health at Walden University, and is a certified Early Intervention Specialist for the state of Virginia.
David Mandell, Sc.D.
Dr. David Mandell has served on the IACC as a public member since 2012. He is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine. He is a health services researcher and psychiatric epidemiologist whose work focuses on identifying the best ways to organize, finance and deliver services to children with autism and other psychiatric and developmental disabilities. Dr. Mandell holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Columbia University and a Doctor of Science from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health.
Brian Parnell, M.S.W., C.S.W.
Mr. Brian Parnell is a new public member of the IACC. He has led a distinguished career in child welfare and disabilities services and as an administrator of public and nonprofit agencies, having supervised and managed social service programs for more than 20 years. Mr. Parnell currently works at the Utah Division of Services for People with Disabilities, Department of Human Services, and helped develop Utah’s Medicaid Autism Waiver program. Mr. Parnell is a parent of seven children, three of whom are on the autism spectrum.
Kevin Pelphrey, Ph.D.
Dr. Kevin Pelphrey is a new public member of the IACC. He is the Harris Professor in the Child Study Center and Professor of Psychology at Yale University and Director of the Yale Center for Translational Developmental Neuroscience. He also is the father of two children on the autism spectrum. Dr. Pelphrey’s research focuses on the development of brain mechanisms for social cognition in children with and without ASD. He also is the Principal Investigator for a federally-funded multisite Autism Center for Excellence, “Multimodal Developmental Neurogenetics of Females with ASD.” Dr. Pelphrey received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Edlyn Peña, Ph.D.
Dr. Edlyn Peña is a new public member of the IACC. She is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education Leadership at California Lutheran University (CLU) and is a parent of a child on the autism spectrum. Dr. Peña’s research focuses on social justice issues for ethnic/racial minorities and students with autism and other developmental disabilities in higher education. She earned her Ph.D. in Education with a concentration in Higher Education from the University of Southern California.
Louis Reichardt, Ph.D.
Dr. Louis Reichardt is a new member of the IACC. He is the Director of the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI), whose goal is to improve the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of ASD by funding innovative, high quality research. Prior to this, he was a Professor of Physiology and Biochemistry & Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco, where he directed its neuroscience graduate program and Herbert W. Boyer Program in Biological Sciences. His research has focused on neurotrophins, a family of proteins that play a key role in brain development and function. Dr. Reichardt was a Fulbright scholar and earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Stanford University.
Robert Ring, Ph.D.
Dr. Robert Ring has served on the IACC as a public member since 2014. He is the Chief Science Officer (CSO) for Autism Speaks, the largest autism science and advocacy organization in the U.S. Dr. Ring is responsible for leading the science program at Autism Speaks, which features a diverse portfolio of research investments targeting medical research on the underlying biology of ASD, diagnosis, treatment, etiology, public health, and innovative technologies. Dr. Ring holds adjunct faculty appointments in the Department of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine (New York) and the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology at Drexel University College of Medicine (Philadelphia). He holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Neurobiology from City of Hope National Medical Center in Southern California.
John Elder Robison
Mr. John Elder Robison has served on the IACC as a public member since 2012. He is the Neurodiversity Scholar in Residence at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he teaches courses on neurodiversity and living with autism. He is an autistic adult who is best known for working to increase public understanding of autism, and he is the author of several popular books about living life with autism, including Look Me in the Eye, My Life with Asperger’s, Be Different: Adventures of a Free-Range Aspergian, and Raising Cubby.
Alison Singer, M.B.A.
Ms. Alison Singer has served on the IACC as a public member since 2007. She is Co-Founder and President of the Autism Science Foundation, a not-for-profit organization launched in April 2009 to support autism research by providing funding and other assistance to scientists and organizations conducting, facilitating, publicizing, and disseminating autism research. Ms. Singer is the mother of a daughter with autism and legal guardian of her adult brother with autism. Ms. Singer graduated magna cum laude from Yale University with a B.A. in Economics and has an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Julie Lounds Taylor, Ph.D.
Dr. Julie Lounds Taylor is a new public member of the IACC. Dr. Taylor is an assistant professor of Pediatrics and Special Education at Vanderbilt University and an Investigator at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center. Her research focuses on factors that promote a positive transition to adulthood for individuals with ASD and their families, as well as the impact of having a sibling with an intellectual or developmental disability. She has published research on a variety of autism and disability services-related issues, including sex and gender differences, peer victimization, transition planning, secondary education and vocational training, employment, and daily life skills for people on the autism spectrum. Dr. Taylor earned her Ph.D. in developmental psychology at the University of Notre Dame.
There will also be a new chair as Dr. Insel our previous chair and director of NIMH has left.
Here is more information on IACC, what it does and has done over the years.
Above words do not represent any agency, committee or candidate.
Idil – Somali Autism Mom and Minority Advocate