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CHAIRMAN:
Alan Leshner (Chair, Neuroscience Forum)
Alan I. Leshner, Ph.D., is Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Executive Publisher of its journal, Science. Previously Dr. Leshner had been Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Deputy Director and Acting Director of the National Institute of Mental Health. Before that, he held a variety of senior positions at the National Science Foundation. Dr. Leshner began his career at Bucknell University, where he was Professor of Psychology. Dr. Leshner is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science, and a fellow of AAAS, the National Academy of Public Administration, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was appointed by the U.S. President to the National Science Board, and is a member of the Advisory Committee to the Director of NIH. He received an A.B. in Psychology from Franklin and Marshall College and M.S. and Ph.D. in Physiological Psychology from Rutgers University. Dr. Leshner also holds honorary Doctor of Science degrees from Franklin and Marshall College and the Pavlov Medical University in St. Petersburg, Russia.
MEMBERS:
Duane Alexander (Director, NICHD)
Duane Alexander, M.D., was named NICHD Director on February 5, 1986, after serving as the Institute's Acting Director. Much of his career has been with the NICHD. After receiving his undergraduate degree from Pennsylvania State University, Dr. Alexander earned his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Following his internship and residency at the Department of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Dr. Alexander joined the NICHD in 1968, as a clinical associate in the Children's Diagnostic and Study Branch. Following his tenure with the Branch, Dr. Alexander returned to Johns Hopkins as a fellow in pediatrics (developmental disabilities) at the John F. Kennedy Institute for Habilitation of the Mentally and Physically Handicapped Child. His interests brought him back to the NICHD in 1971, when Dr. Alexander became Assistant to the Scientific Director and directed the NICHD National Amniocentesis Study.
Dr. Alexander is a diplomat of the American Board of Pediatrics and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Pediatric Society, and the Society for Developmental Pediatrics. For more than a decade, he also served as the United States' observer on the Steering Committee on Bioethics for the Council of Europe. As an officer in the Public Health Service (PHS), Dr. Alexander has received numerous PHS awards, including a Commendation Medal in 1970, a Meritorious Service Medal, and a Special Recognition Award in 1985. He also received the Surgeon General's Exemplary Service Medal in 1990, and the Surgeon General's Medallion in 1993 and 2002. In addition, Dr. Alexander is the author of numerous articles and book chapters, most of which relate to his research in developmental disabilities.
Mark Blaxill (Vice President and Director, Safe Minds)
Mark Blaxill is the father of a daughter diagnosed with autism and Vice President of SafeMinds. He spent most of his professional career at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where he was a Senior Vice President until he left the firm in 2006. While at BCG he was the leader of the firm’s Strategy Practice and led firm initiatives in the area of globalization, open source software, intellectual property and network analysis. He has had wide industry experience, including client assignments in information services, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, consumer electronics, forest products, retailing and pulp and paper. He has worked on a wide range of business problems for CEOs and heads of strategy of Fortune 100 and Dow Jones index companies, including corporate portfolio strategy development, business unit strategy, strategic planning process development, research and development strategies and process reengineering. He is currently writing a book on the subject of intellectual property strategies for business and launching a new business venture. He is a named inventor on BCG’s first ever patent application.
He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School with distinction and a bachelor’s degree in international affairs from Princeton University where he graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He is also the author of several publications on autism: including "What's going on? The question of time trends in autism" (Public Health Reports, 2004); "Reduced mercury levels in first baby haircuts of autistic children" (International Journal of Toxicology, 2003); and "Thimerosal and autism? a plausible hypothesis that should not be dismissed." (Medical Hypotheses, 2004). He has been a frequent speaker on autism related issues, including conference presentations for Neurotoxicology (August 2006), Defeat Autism Now! (May 2001, October 2006), Autism One (May 2004, 2005 and 2006), National Autism Association (November 2005), NIEHS (August 2005) and the Institute of Medicine Immunization Safety Review (July 2001). He is married to Elise and has two children, Sydney and Michaela. He lives in Cambridge Massachusetts.
Laura Bono (Board Member, National Autism Association)
Laura Bono is a Board Member, co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of the National Autism Association (NAA). The mission of NAA is to educate and empower families affected by autism and other neurological disorders, and to raise public and professional awareness that autism is not a lifelong incurable genetic disorder but one that is biomedically definable and treatable. Along with NIEHS and SafeMinds, she helped to plan and execute the Environmental Factors in Neurodevelopmental Disorders Symposium. She graduated cum laude from the University of South Carolina with a B.S. in Journalism with a minor in Marketing. She currently serves as Director of Marketing to The Parent Institute and has over 25 years business experience in marketing. The youngest of her three children, Jackson, is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Laura resides in Durham, NC.
Sophia A. Colamarino (Science Director, Cure Autism Now*)
Sophia A. Colamarino, Ph.D., arrived at the Cure Autism Now Foundation (CAN) in 2004 as Science Director for one of the leading private funders of autism research in the world. Dr. Colamarino is responsible for guiding CAN’s science program in association with CAN’s scientific advisory boards, as well as working with CAN’s Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE) program, the largest private repository of clinical and genetic information available for autism research. In addition to fostering a network of science, Dr. Colamarino acts as a liaison between the research and families affected by autism.
Dr. Colamarino graduated with dual degrees and honors in Biological Sciences and Psychology from Stanford University. She was awarded her Ph.D. in Neurosciences from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where she studied developmental neurobiology with Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Ph.D. Her doctoral dissertation involved identification of the signals that influence development of brain connectivity. After receiving her Ph.D., Dr. Colamarino conducted research on the human genetic disorder Kallmann Syndrome at the Telethon Institute for Genetics and Medicine in Milan, Italy, led by Andrea Ballabio, M.D. She then returned to the US to work at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, CA, studying adult neural stem cells in the laboratory of Fred H. Gage, Ph.D., where she focused on the role of extracellular signaling molecules in promoting adult neurogenesis. Dr. Colamarino's extensive research career has included publications in such journals as Cell, Nature and Nature Medicine.
Eric Fombonne (Researcher, McGill University Health Center)
Eric Fombonne, M.D., is the Head of the Division of Child Psychiatry at McGill and Director of the Department of Psychiatry at the Montreal Children’s Hospital where he has expanded autism services. He worked at INSERM in France and in the UK at the London Institute of Psychiatry, and he now is holder of a Canada Research Chair. He has been involved in numerous epidemiological studies of autism and is considered to be a leading authority on this topic, and also on the putative links between autism and immunization. He has also been involved in the development of assessment tools for clinical and research purposes, in family and genetic studies of autism, and in outcome studies. He has a long track record of scientific/research leadership including serving as a consultant for the National Academy of Sciences, the Center for Diseases Control, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the MRC (UK), the MIND Institute (U.C. Davis) on research matters related to autism. He has been Associate Editor of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders since 1994 and is on the editorial board of several other scientific journals. He is on the board of several family associations with which he has worked closely over the years.
Steven Hyman (Provost, Harvard University)
Steve Hyman, M.D., is Provost of Harvard University and Professor of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School. From 1996 to 2001, he served as Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the component of the National Institutes of Health charged with generating the knowledge needed to understand and treat mental illness. Before serving as Director of NIMH, Dr. Hyman was Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Director of Psychiatry Research at Massachusetts General Hospital, and the first faculty Director of Harvard University's Mind, Brain, and Behavior Initiative. In the laboratory he studied the regulation of gene expression by neurotransmitters, especially dopamine, and by drugs that influence dopamine systems. This research was aimed at understanding addiction and the action of therapeutic psychotropic drugs .
Dr. Hyman is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Sciences, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. He is Editor-in-chief of the Annual Review of Neuroscience. He has received awards for public service from the U. S. Government and from patient advocacy groups such as the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and the National Mental Health Association.
Dr. Hyman received his BA from Yale College in 1974 summa cum laude, and an MA from the University of Cambridge, which he attended as a Mellon fellow studying the history and philosophy of science. He earned his MD from Harvard Medical School in 1980 cum laude.
Judy Illes (Bioethcist, Stanford University)
Judy Illes, Ph.D., is Acting Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Medical Genetics) and Director of the Program in Neuroethics at the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics. Dr. Illes received her doctorate in Hearing and Speech Sciences from Stanford University in 1987, with a specialization in Experimental Neuropsychology. Dr. Illes returned to Stanford University in 1991 to help build the research enterprise in imaging sciences in the Department of Radiology. She also co-founded the Stanford Brain Research Center (now the Neuroscience Institute at Stanford), and served as its first Executive Director between 1998 and 2001.
Today, Dr. Illes directs a strong research team devoted to neuroethics, and issues specifically at the intersection of medical imaging and biomedical ethics. These include ethical, social and legal challenges presented by advanced functional imaging capabilities, the emergence of cognitive enhancement technologies and pharmacology, the commercialization of cognitive neuroscience, clinical findings detected incidentally in research, and stakeholder engagement. New initiatives in regenerative medicine and international neuroethics are underway. Dr. Illes has written numerous books, edited volumes and articles. She is the author of The Strategic Grant Seeker: Conceptualizing Fundable Research in the Brain and Behavioral Sciences (1999, LEA Publishers, NJ), Special Guest Editor of Topics of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, “Emerging Ethical Challenges in MR Imaging” (2002), and Brain and Cognition, “Ethical Challenges in Advanced Neuroimaging” (2002.) Her latest book, Neuroethics: Defining the Issues in Theory, Practice and Policy, was published by Oxford University Press in January 2006.
Dr. Illes is co-Chair of the Committee on Women in Neuroscience for the Society for Neuroscience, a member of the Internal Advisory Board for the Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction (INMHA) of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and a member of the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives.
Thomas R. Insel (Director, NIMH)
Thomas R. Insel, M.D., graduated from Boston University where he received a B.A. from the College of Liberal Arts and an M.D. from the Medical School. He did his internship at Berkshire Medical Center, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and his residency at the Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute at the University of California San Francisco. Dr. Insel joined NIMH in 1979, where he served in various scientific research positions until 1994 when he went to Emory University, Atlanta, as Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Emory University School of Medicine, and Director of the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center. As director of Yerkes, Dr. Insel built one of the nation’s leading HIV vaccine research programs. He also served as the founding director of the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, a Science and Technology Center, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop an interdisciplinary consortium for research and education at eight Atlanta colleges and universities.
Dr. Insel’s scientific interests have ranged from clinical studies of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) to explorations of the molecular basis of social behaviors in rodents and non-human primates. His research on oxytocin and affiliative behaviors, such as parental care and pair bonding, helped to launch the field of social neuroscience.
Dr. Insel oversees the NIMH’s $1.4 billion research budget that provides support to investigators at universities throughout the country in the areas of basic science; clinical research, including large-scale trials of new treatments; and studies of the organization and delivery of mental health services.
Susan E. Swedo (Pediatrics and Developmental Neuropsychiatry Branch, NIMH)
Susan Swedo, M.D., received her B.A. degree from Augustana College in 1977 and her M.D. from Southern Illinois University in 1980. Shortly after completing a residency in pediatrics at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, Dr. Swedo was named Chief of the Division of Adolescent Medicine at the University. The following year, she moved to Washington D.C. and became a senior staff fellow in the Child Psychiatry Branch, NIMH. Dr. Swedo was granted tenure in 1992, became Head of the Section on Behavioral Pediatrics in 1994, and Chief of the Pediatrics and Developmental Neuropsychiatry Branch in 1998. She also served as the Acting Scientific Director for NIMH from 1995 through 1998. Dr. Swedo recently received the Joel Elkes International Research Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. Her laboratory studies childhood-onset obsessive compulsive disorder and related disorders, including Tourette syndrome and Sydenham chorea.
David A. Schwartz (Director, NIEHS)
David A. Schwartz became the fourth Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in May, 2005. Dr. Schwartz oversees the Institute's comprehensive research portfolio of basic and applied research to reduce the burden of human diseases that are triggered by the environment. Dr. Schwartz also serves as the Director of the National Toxicology Program, an interagency program established in 1978 by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to test chemicals and other agents of public health concern.
Prior to accepting the role of NIEHS Director, Dr. Schwartz, a nationally recognized researcher and practicing physician specializing in environmental lung disease, served at Duke University, where he held concurrent positions at the Medical Center including Vice Chair for Research and Director of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. Additionally, Dr. Schwartz was Professor in the Department of Medicine, Genetics, and Environmental Sciences at the University since 2000. While at Duke, Dr. Schwartz played a pivotal role in establishing three interdisciplinary Centers in Environmental Health Sciences, Environmental Genomics, and Environmental Asthma, illustrating his commitment to bring together an array of scientific expertise with state-of-the-art technology to tackle critical public and individual health issues.
A native of New York, Dr. Schwartz earned his BA in biology from the University of Rochester in 1975. He received his medical degree from the University of California, San Diego, in 1979. After completing a residency and chief residency in Internal Medicine at Boston City Hospital, he completed a fellowship in Occupational Medicine at Harvard School of Public Health, where he received his MPH in 1985. While at the University of Washington, Dr. Schwartz completed a research fellowship in the prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, then served as a Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellow. In 1988 he joined the faculty at the University of Iowa, where he rose through the ranks becoming Director of Occupational Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine, until he joined Duke University in 2000.
Alison Tepper Singer (Senior Vice President for Communication & Strategy, Autism Speaks)
Alison Tepper Singer is Senior Vice President, Communication and Strategy for Autism Speaks. Singer has been with the foundation since its launch in March, 2005 and is a member of the Board of Directors, in addition to overseeing the strategic communications and development of the growing organization. She served as Interim CEO of the organization from March through July 2005.
Prior to joining Autism Speaks, Alison spent 14 years at CNBC and NBC, in a variety of positions. From 1994-1999 she served as Vice President of Programming in NBC's Cable and Business Development division, where she launched NBC Desktop Video and oversaw long-term planning for both CNBC.com and MSNBC.com. Prior to that she had served as Producer of CNBC's MoneyWheel and MarketWrap programs. Most recently at CNBC, in her role as Special Projects Producer, Alison produced the award-winning series "Autism: Paying the Price".
Singer has come full circle since beginning her broadcasting career at NBC as an intern on the Today Show. She moved to Norfolk, Virginia after graduating magna cum laude with a B.A. in Economics from Yale University, to assume the associate producer and later producer role for the 6:00 PM and 11:00PM nightly news broadcasts at CBS affiliate WTKR. Her combined love of television and business led her to Harvard Business School, whereupon completing her MBA she worked as the Director of Business Development for Knight-Ridder Financial News.
Alison Singer brings unequivocal vision and creativity to the senior management of Autism Speaks. She has both a daughter and an older brother with autism, providing inside, long-term and day-to-day experience with the disorder. As a mother, sister and businesswoman she is also a natural advocate, serving as both the Chair, Westchester/Fairfield "Walk Far for NAAR" (National Alliance for Autism Research), and as Chair of Scarsdale CHILD (Children Having Individual Learning Differences), in addition to her work at Autism Speaks.
Christian Zimmerman (Chairman and Founder, Idaho Neurological Institute)
Christian G. Zimmerman, M.D., FACS, M.B.A. is Chairman and Founder of the Idaho Neurological Institute, (INI), Adjunct Professor of Psychology at Boise State University, past Chief Executive Officer of Neuroscience Associates, and served as a Board member for the Idaho State Board of Health and Welfare. Dr. Zimmerman established the INI research facility to focus on nervous system injury, repair, and neuroplasticity, leads its various interdisciplinary research teams, and is co-professor for biology and cognitive neuroscience research students trained at the facility. Research projects include a 20-year longitudinal study of traumatic brain injury, investigations of spinal injury, stroke, aneurysms, arterial thrombolytic therapy intervention, neuropathology, CNS tumors, sleep disorders, deep brain stimulation, movement disorders, and five TATRC telemedicine grants. In his role as INI Chairman, he has facilitated numerous symposia and workshops to provide educational opportunities for medical professionals and for the general public. Additionally, he chairs prevention programs to Idaho's youth such as Think First. Dr. Zimmerman is Diplomate of the American Board of Neurological Surgery and Pain Management, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and Physician Executives, and received his Masters of Business Administration from Auburn University.
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