Fred R. Volkmar M.D., is the Irving B. Harris Professor Emeritus of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology at the Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine and the Dorothy Goodwin Family Chair of Special Education at Southern Connecticut State University. An international authority on Asperger’s disorder and autism, Dr. Volkmar was the primary author of the DSM-IV autism and pervasive developmental disorders section. He has authored several hundred scientific papers and has co-edited numerous books, including a book written specifically for parents – A Practical Guide to Autism - now in its 2nd edition as well as forthcoming books on evidence based treatments and a new edition of the Handbook of Autism. He has served as associate editor of the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and the American Journal of Psychiatry. He also served as co-chairperson of the autism/MR committee of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. From 2007 to 2023, he was editor of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders and, more recently, of the Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Although now emeritus at Yale, Dr. Volkmar remains active as the Director of the Autism Center of Excellence at Southern Connecticut State University.
Brian Reichow, Ph.D., BCBA-D, is Associate Director of the University of Connecticut Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service and an Associate Professor of Public Health Sciences at UConn Health. His current research interests include the translation of research to practice, the use of systematic review methods and meta-analytic methods to identify evidence-based practices, and applied research involving young children with or at risk of developing disabilities and their families. He has been a technical advisor for the World Health Organizationfor over a decade assisting WHO with the development of practice guidelines and training materials to increase the identification, management, and treatment of children with developmental disabilities in lower- and middle-income countries. Dr. Reichow is currently Co-Editor in Chief of the Journal of Early Intervention Co-Editor of the Disability Coordinating Group of the Campbell Collaboration and Campbell Systematic Reviews. He is also an associate editor for Topics in Early Childhood Special Education and the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders and serves on numerous other editorial boards related to neurodevelopmental disabilities and research methods. Dr. Reichow is widely published, with over 100 scholarly works, including two books, Evidence-based Practices and Treatments for Children with Autism and the Handbook of Early Childhood Special Education, both also published by Springer.
James C. McPartland, Ph.D. is the HarrisProfessor of Child Psychiatry and Psychology at the Yale Child Study Center. He is a practicing licensed child psychologist and Director of the Yale Developmental Disabilities Clinic. Dr. McPartland is a Director of the Yale Center for Brain and Mind Health, Co-Director of Team Science at the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation, and Director of Undergraduate Studies at the Child Study Center. Dr. McPartland’s program of research investigates the brain bases of neurodevelopmental conditions to develop biologically-based tools to improve detection, treatment, and, ultimately, the quality of life for autistic people and their families. His contributions to the field have been recognized by numerous awards, including the NARSAD Atherton Young Investigator Award, the International Society for Autism Research Young Investigator Award, the Patterson Trust Clinical Research Award, the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Klerman Prize, and the APA Sara S. Sparrow Early Career Research Award, and he has been named a Fellow by two divisions of the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science. Dr. McPartland is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, the Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, the Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disabilities, and the Encyclopaedia of Autism and Related Disorders. He is active in public scientific communication, with his clinical and research activities featured in media, such as the A&E series, The Employables, and news outlets, such as the New York Times. He has served on the executive boards of the International Society for Autism Research and the APA Division of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities/Autism Spectrum Disorder and currently chairs the Scientific Advisory Board of the Autism Science Foundation.
