Career Goal: My long-term research goal is to identify features of the early social communication environmentthat are early intervention targets for infants that go on to have autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The overallobjective of this application, which is the next step toward attainment of my long-term goal, is to determinewhich aspects of the early social communication environment are protective factors for brain development andbehavioral outcome. Research Project: Children with ASD who grow up in rich social communicationenvironments show superior language abilities later in life when compared to children who grow up in less richsocial communication environments; however, to date it is unknown if the social communication environmentfrom birth to two years impacts brain development and behavioral outcome in infants at high-familial risk forASD. Given that the first year of life is a time of great brain plasticity and before the emergence of thediagnostic features of ASD, determining early influential brain mechanisms and intervening during this timecould yield ideal outcomes. The goal of the current project is to determine if a rich early social communicativeenvironment supports optimal brain and behavioral development in infants at high-risk for ASD who do and donot go on to develop ASD. Additionally, an independent sample of infants will be studied to determine optimalperiods for intervention by searching for time-dependent associations between the social communicationenvironment and brain/behavior development. Specific Aims: 1) To define patterns of association between theearly social communication environment with language and brain development in infants at low-risk for ASD.(K99); 2) To determine if the early communication environment is a protective factor for brain development andautism symptoms in infants at high-risk for ASD. (K99); 3) To identify the time window when the associationbetween the social communication environment and infant brain development is the strongest. (R00). CareerDevelopment: This K99/R00 award will provide the necessary training I require before transitioning into anindependent position including: mastering advanced diffusion tensor imaging analytic techniques, becomingproficient in structural magnetic resonance imaging, training in MRI acquisition of infant neuroimaging data,gaining skills in the application of novel computer algorithms to automatically characterize the socialcommunication environment, and completing training in advanced statistical approaches to investigateenvironment-brain-behavior relationships. Mentorship: To support my training and career development ahighly accomplished, multidisciplinary team has agreed to provide mentorship. My mentoring team includes aprimary mentor, Dr. Joseph Piven (Dept. of Psychiatry, UNC), a secondary mentor, Dr. Martin Styner (Dept. ofComputer Science, UNC), and two complimentary collaborators: Drs. James Rehg (School of InteractingComputing, Georgia Tech), and Jonathan Green (Institute of Brain, Behaviour, and Mental Health, University ofManchester).
Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC)
Autism Research Database (AFD)
