The Autism SIG is grateful for the leadership of our current co-chairs:
Hannah Morton, PhD (she/her/hers)
Dr. Hannah Morton is a neurodivergent assistant professor at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her research examines social acceptance and peer victimization of autistic and neurodivergent youth as well as the overlap and distinction of autism and ADHD. Her recent work focuses on the validity of outcome measurement in autism and ADHD as well as the inclusion of affirming language and autistic voices within the field.
Katherine Pickard, PhD (she/her/hers)
Dr. Katherine Pickard is an assistant professor and licensed psychologist in the Department of Pediatrics at Emory University and the Marcus Autism Center. Katherine’s research aims to develop and evaluate strategies that foster the adoption, implementation and sustained use of high-quality care within a variety of community systems, including Early Intervention and public-school systems. She is particularly interested in the role of families and autistic partners in shaping interventions as they are implemented within the community, and in how a system’s infrastructure impacts the reach and sustainability of translation efforts. Clinically, Katherine’s work focuses on naturalistic, developmental, behavioral interventions (known as NDBIs) for young autistic children and their caregivers, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for autistic youth with co-occurring anxiety.
Co-Chair Elect
Sadaf Khawar, PhD (she/her/hers)
Dr. Sadaf Khawar is a a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis, MN. Sadaf is a board certified behavior analyst with a PhD in clinical psychology who has extensive experience in conducting neuropsychological evaluations and delivering evidence-based interventions to neurodiverse individuals in a variety of home, school, and mental health settings across the United States. In addition to her clinical work, Sadaf is seeking to explore barriers to autism diagnosis and treatment access as well as disparities in service use in underrepresented groups through her research. Further, she is particularly vested in community based participatory research methods as it involves stakeholders and community engagement which increases recruitment from diverse groups.
Thanks to all of our previous SIG co-chairs for their leadership:
SIG Co-Chairs
2024 Tyler Higgs and Hannah Morton
2023 Cara Pugliese and Tyler Higgs
2022 Lindsey Burrell and Cara Pugliese
2021 Emily Kuschner and Lindsey Burrell
2020 Karen Bearss and Emily Kuschner
2019 Brenna Maddox and Karen Bearss
2018 Cy Nadler, Lauren Moskowitz, and Brenna Maddox
2017 Cy Nadler and Lauren Moskowitz
2016 Matt Lerner and Connor Kerns
2015 Matt Lerner and Connor Kerns
2013 – 2014 Susan White and Jeff Wood (Founding Co-Chairs)