Conference At Fairfield University

Will Focus On Autism And Its Disorders

FAIRFIELD, CONN. — A June 12 conference on “Translating Autism Spectrum Disorders: Bench to Bedside and Beyond” will open with a lecture by Bob and Suzanne Wright, co-founders of Autism Speaks. The Southport-based organization is a sponsor of the conference, along with Fairfield University and Bridgeport Hospital.

The conference will run from 8 am to 5 pm.

Due to the complexity of Autism Spectrum Disorders and related developmental brain disorders, scientific research and clinical best practices are often difficult to translate into effective treatment by the wide range of caregivers who work with autistic individuals. The June 12 conference has been designed to reach many of those caregivers, including doctors, nurses, educators, therapists, advocates, families, and students.

Distinguished conference presenters are associated with Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale University School of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, and Johns Hopkins.

These six presenters will join a panel discussion at the end of the day, along with Mark Roithmayr, president of Autism Speaks; Randall L. Carpenter, MD, president and CEO of Seaside Therapeutics, a drug discovery company focused on developing novel therapeutics for disorders of brain development such as Fragile X and autism; Howard M. Klebanoff, an attorney and leader in the fight for the rights of people with disabilities; John C Burke, PhD, communication and social development specialist at Giant Steps School; and Michael J. Weiss, PhD, a developmental psychologist at Giant Steps School and an adjunct professor in psychology at Fairfield University.

The six presenters are:

Margaret Bauman, MD, an associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, as well as an associate pediatrician and assistant neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, who will discuss the neuropathology of autism;

Mark Bear, PhD, Picower professor of neurosciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, who will discuss therapeutic implications of the mGluR Theory of Fragile X Mental Retardation;

Edward J. Novotny, Jr, MD, associate professor of pediatrics, neurology and neurosurgery at Yale University School of Medicine and director of the pediatric epilepsy program at the Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital, who will discuss childhood epilepsy;

Timothy Buie, MD, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and a member of the faculties of Harvard Medical School and Tufts University School of Medicine, who has published work on autism and Down syndrome, who will speak on clinical cases of autism;

James M. Perrin, MD, a professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and director for the division of general pediatrics and the Center for Child and Adolescent Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, who will talk about national programs and policies for children with autism and their families; and

Paul Law, MD, MPH, director of medical informatics at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, who holds an associate appointment at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a consultant to the World Health Organization, who will speak on “Interactive Autism Network: Fostering partnership between families and researchers through powerful online tools and resources.”

Reservations to the conference, made by June 1, are $75. Walk-in registration will be $100, as space permits.

To phone in registrations, call 203-259-5067. For more information about the conference, call Giant Steps at 203-254-3491.