Boyd was previously director of the Juniper Gardens Children’s Project at the University of Kansas and is past vice president of the International Society for Autism Research. Boyd’s research has focused on children on the autism spectrum, testing and implementation of effective interventions and supports, outcome measurement, and advancing understanding of intersectional identities within autism research. As a special educator by training, much of his research has involved the development and evaluation of evidence-based practices that could be implemented in home, school, and community contexts. Boyd was a co-author of a recent Lancet Commission report on the future of care and clinical research in autism. Boyd received a B.S. in psychology from the College of William and Mary, an M.Ed. in special education from the University of Virginia, and a Ph.D. from the University of Florida.

WENDY K. CHUNG is a clinical and molecular geneticist and the chief of the Department of Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Chung directs research programs in human genetics of autism, pulmonary hypertension, breast cancer, obesity, diabetes, and birth defects including congenital diaphragmatic hernia and congenital heart disease. She is the principal investigator of SPARK, the largest study of autism. Chung was the recipient of the Rare Impact Award from the National Organization of Rare Disorders and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Physicians. She previously served on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee on genetic testing. Chung received a B.A. in biochemistry from Cornell University, an M.D. from Cornell University Medical College, and a Ph.D. in genetics from the Rockefeller University. Chung has stated publicly that genetic testing should be offered to individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities/developmental delays.

LAUREN ERICKSON is the director of policy and programs at the Institute for Exceptional Care. She was previously a senior managing consultant at Berkeley Research Group where she advised clients on healthcare mergers and acquisitions, reimbursement policy, and health plan operations. Prior to this, Erickson worked at Anthem, Inc. where she managed Accountable Care Organization payment programs and developed and implemented a partnership strategy to support independent physicians in providing high-value care. Erickson led the implementation of the Quality Payment Program at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Innovation Center, based on significant legislative changes to Medicare physician payment policy. She has the lived experience of supporting a brother with an intellectual development disability. Erickson received a B.A. from the University of Northern Iowa and an M.P.H. from the University of Iowa.

served as the legislative and public policy committee chair. She has also served on the Colorado State Rehabilitation Council and served as a parent stakeholder on the Colorado Early Childhood Special Education Advisory Committee representing the Pikes Peak region and military families. Penhale has been a longtime advocate for military families in the Exceptional Family Member Program and has been active in the grassroots advocacy and legislative efforts for those with autism and intellectual/developmental disabilities. Penhale holds a B.A. in political science and an M.P.A. from American Military University.

JOSE E. RODRIGUEZ is the associate vice president for Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at the University of Utah Health and a tenured professor in the Department of Family & Preventive Medicine. He is an associate editor for Annals of Family Medicine in the areas of racism and health disparities research. He is also the current president of the Family Physicians Inquiries Network. Throughout his career, he has provided primary care for underserved communities. His work focuses on equity, diversity, and inclusion, specifically underrepresented minority faculty in academic medicine. He founded and co-directed the Center for Underrepresented Minorities in Academic Medicine at Florida State University and produced scholarship highlighting disparities for minority faculty (minority tax), elucidating systemic barriers to recruitment of underrepresented minority faculty and identifying essential components of faculty development. Rodriguez is a contributing author on the Culture of Health publication for the National Academy of Medicine. Rodriguez is a board-certified family physician who completed his residency at the Residency Program in Social Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center. Rodriguez received a B.A. in Latin American studies and chemistry from Brigham Young University and an M.D. from Cornell University.

ANDY SHIH is the chief science officer at Autism Speaks, where he is responsible for the science portfolio, including grantmaking, the MSSNG genomic research project, and the Autism Care Network. Shih has led important advancements toward the organization’s mission, including the development of several large international research consortia that delivered high-impact scientific outcomes for the community. He was central to the passage of the World Autism Awareness Day resolution at the United Nations and subsequently led the development of the Global Autism Public Health initiative that provides technical support to country governments to enhance autism awareness, advocacy, research, and services worldwide. Autism Speaks supports ministries, government agencies, and leading nongovernmental organizations in more than 70 countries to deliver better outcomes and quality of life for tens of millions of individuals and families.

Shih’s research background includes published studies in gene identification and characterization, virus-cell interaction, and cell-cycle regulation. Shih holds a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in molecular cell biology from New York University School of Medicine. Shih has made public statements on barriers to care and proposed changes to TRICARE coverage affecting military families with autistic children.

KRISTIN SOHL is a professor of pediatrics at the University of Missouri and founder and executive director of ECHO Autism Communities. Sohl is a pediatrician with extensive experience in medical diagnosis, evaluation, and longitudinal support of people on the autism spectrum and with other developmental/behavioral disorders. ECHO Autism Communities is viewed as the leading model in expanding equitable access to best practice screening, evaluation, diagnosis, and longitudinal support for autistic people, particularly in underserved and rural populations. ECHO Autism Communities partners with children’s hospitals and autism centers in more than 50 locations in the United States and 30 international locations. Sohl is the immediate past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Missouri Chapter, and the chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Autism Subcommittee within the Council on Children with Disabilities. Sohl also serves as the medical director for Missouri Telehealth Network and the Office of Continuing Education for Health Professions at the University of Missouri. Sohl received an M.D. from the University of Missouri. Sohl is a consultant for Autism Navigator at Florida State University, which is an online educational tool to help parents and clinicians identify characteristics of autism early and support social communication skills in young children. Sohl has made public comments about the role of evidence-based supports and services related to autism which includes applied behavior analysis.

AUBYN C. STAHMER is a professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and the director of the Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at the MIND Institute. She is a clinical psychologist and a board certified behavior analyst with expertise in autism intervention and translation of evidence-based autism research to community-based practice and delivery. The main goals of her research include developing ways to help community providers, such as teachers and therapists, help autistic children and their families by providing high-quality care. She is an internationally respected expert in the use of naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions, which are validated treatments for autism. Stahmer has conducted extensive research in the areas of parent coaching, early intervention, inclusive education, and services research in autism. She is an editor of Autism: International Journal of Research and Practice. In addition,

she participates on the California Best Practice Guidelines Committee and the National Standards Project, developing guidelines for autism treatment. Stahmer received a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California, San Diego. Stahmer recently co-authored relevant articles (“Can the Early Start Denver Model Be Considered ABA Practice?” in Behavior Analysis in Practice and “How Meaningful Is More? Considerations Regarding Intensity in Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention.” in Autism: International Journal of Research and Practice).

RUTH E.K. STEIN is a professor of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and former vice chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Children’s Hospital at Montefiore. Her research on children’s health and children with chronic conditions has been supported by several federal agencies and private foundations. For more than a decade she was director and principal investigator of the National Institute of Mental Health-supported Preventive Intervention Research Center for Child Health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center. She has published extensively on children with chronic conditions, the measurement of outcomes for child health, and mental health issues in primary care. She was a charter member of the board of directors and executive committee of the Center for Child Health of the American Academy of Pediatrics. She was a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Board on Children, Youth, and Families and co-chaired the Committee on the Evaluation of Child Health. She also served on the scientific advisory board of the National Institutes of Health’s Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Network and the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Stein holds a B.A. from Barnard College and an M.D. from Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

ALLYSA N. WARE is the executive director of Family Voices. She is a family leader and researcher with extensive experience in strategic planning, family engagement, grant writing, human relations, and systems change. Ware’s research is focused on the lived experience of individuals and families with an autism diagnosis. Her commitment to advocacy for individuals on the autism spectrum began with her personal experience as a parent and expanded through her practice as a social worker. She has collaborated with notable researchers to conduct in-depth research on kinship care, transition to adult care, and early childhood systems. She was recognized with the researcher award for Milestones Autism Resources, an Ohio-based nonprofit organization that provides lifelong strategies and support for individuals on the autism spectrum. Ware is the principal investigator on

several initiatives at Family Voices, including building capacity for autism research in the African American community; the Center for Transition to Adult Care for Youth with Disabilities; and Pediatrics Supporting Parents, an early childhood social-emotional development initiative. Ware holds a B.S. in psychology from the University of Maryland Global Campus and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in social work from the Catholic University of America.

ZACHARY J. WILLIAMS is an autistic self-advocate, autism researcher, and trainee psychiatrist at Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at the University of California, Los Angeles. Williams also serves as an advisory board member and fellow of Vanderbilt University’s Frist Center for Autism and Innovation. His research broadly focuses on the intersection of autism and health and disability across the lifespan, including how autism-associated (mental and physical) health issues can be better measured, assessed, and supported or treated by current healthcare systems. He is a co-founder of Autism PROMnet, a special interest group to promote measurement and validation projects in the area of autism research, and is considered a respected authority in the area of psychometrics and test development/validation. Williams received an B.S. in psychology (neuroscience track) from Yale University and an M.D. and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Vanderbilt School of Medicine. Williams is a consultant for Roche on outcome measures for drug trials.

STAFF

EMILY P. BACKES is deputy board director for the Committee on Law and Justice and Board on Children, Youth, and Families in the Division of Behavioral, Social Sciences, and Education at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. She also served as director of the Societal Experts Action Network, a network of leading individuals and institutions in social science fields that provides actionable responses to urgent policy questions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In her time at the National Academies, Backes has served as study director for numerous reports and provided analytical and editorial assistance to National Academies projects on adolescent development, early care and education systems, birth settings, juvenile justice reform, policing, correctional settings, forensic science, illicit markets, science literacy and communication, and science and human rights. Backes received an M.A. and B.A. in history from the University of Missouri, specializing in U.S. human rights policy and international law, and a J.D. from the University of the District of Columbia, where she represented clients as a student attorney with the Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic and the Juvenile and Special Education Law Clinic.