Craig Newschaffer, PhD: Dr. Newschaffer is Principal Investigator (PI) of both the EARLI Network and the Southeast Pennsylvania Research Site. Dr. Newschaffer, an experienced ASD epidemiologist, was founding director of the Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Epidemiology (CADDE) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health before becoming the Chairman of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Drexel University School of Public Health in September of 2006. He holds an Adjunct Professor appointment at Johns Hopkins University, sits on the Science Advisory Board of Autism Speaks, and is a member of the editorial board of Autism Research and the American Journal of Epidemiology.
Jennifer Culhane, PhD, MPH: Dr. Culhane is a nationally recognized perinatal epidemiologist with diverse research interests, which include the effects of stress and infection on pregnancy outcome. She holds a joint appointment in Drexel’s Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. She is a co-principal investigator of the Montgomery County Pennsylvania Vanguard site of the National Children’s Study. She also leads a state of Pennsylvania-funded pre-term delivery prevention project, where she has developed agreements with all hospital obstetric departments located within the city of Philadelphia to allow data collection during post-partum hospital stays.
Susan E. Levy, MD: Dr. Levy is a leading clinical researcher in ASDs and a co-Principal Investigator on the Philadelphia site of the national Study to Explore Early Development (SEED). She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Council of Children with Disabilities and the Autism Expert Panel for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Dr. Levy contributed to the recent clinical report about autism diagnosis and management as well as the Autism Toolkit. She was a member of the Consensus Panel sponsored by the Child Neurology Society for Screening and Diagnosis of ASD.
Dr. Levy is a member of the newly established Center for Autism Research (CAR) a consortium of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania researchers who focus the developmental, neurobiological and genetic mechanisms of the ASDs. The Center for Autism Research is tightly integrated with the Regional Autism Center, directed by Dr. Levy. The Regional Autism Center provides comprehensive, coordinated, family-centered clinical care for children suspected of having an autism spectrum disorder. The Center for Autism Research is the site for clinical evaluations for the SEED study, and will be the site for clinical evaluations for EARLI, under Dr. Levy’s direction.
Jennifer Pinto-Martin, PhD, MPH: Dr. Pinto-Martin is a perinatal epidemiologist based at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and is the Philadelphia site Co-Principal Investigator of the national Study to Explore Early Development (SEED). She is a member of the Center for Autism Research, a Children’s Hospital/ University of Pennsylvania consortium of autism researchers, and currently serves as Secretary for the International Society for Autism Research. Dr. Pinto-Martin has been involved in a longitudinal cohort study of the etiology and long-term consequences of neonatal brain injury since 1984. This study, the Neonatal Brain Hemorrhage (NBH) Study, has had nearly 20 years of continuous NIH funding to assemble and follow this cohort of over 1,000 low birth weight infants. Dr. Pinto-Martin is currently the Principal Investigator on an R01 from NIMH to assess the presence of autism spectrum disorders among the NBH cohort. In addition, she is a Co-Investigator on a NIH/Fogarty grant to assess the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders in India. Her experience with recruitment, enrollment and longitudinal follow up of a cohort of children is extremely valuable in establishing the early pregnancy cohort for the EARLI Network.