A Vision for Autism at NSU

On February 9, 2023, the Division of Research and Economic Development hosted “A Vision for Autism at NSU” virtual forum. The forum was attended by over 55 autism-related scholars, researchers, and care professionals from 12 colleges at NSU. The attendees possess expertise in multiple areas, including: adult services, care giving, dentistry, communication, diagnosis/evaluation, neurodevelopment, etc. The event featured an expert panel involved in autism-related work, a collaborative brainstorming session to help characterize NSU’s expertise and impact potential, and engagement by attendees spanning disciplines and colleges at NSU.

The expert panel consisted of Nurit Sheinberg, Ed.D. (College of Psychology), Nancy Klimas, M.D. (Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine, INIM), Romer Ocanto, D.D.S., M.S., M.Ed. (College of Dental Medicine), Maribel Del Rio-Roberts, Psy.D. (Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice), Carole Zangari, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BSC-CL, ASHA Fellow (Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences), Matthew Dietz, Esq. (Shepard Broad College of Law), who all gave insights on bringing NSU strengths together and advice on developing extraordinary autism-related research, care, and service programs at NSU. Dr. Ocanto mentioned the importance of developing “education” alongside autism-related research, care, and services. Additionally, the panelists agreed with Dr. Del Rio-Roberts that NSU has an advantage of research and clinics operating side-by-side to potentially provide full-service care for a patient’s lifetime. “The best way to bring our strengths together would be to find a way to centralize all of the information, talent, expertise, resources, and ideas on autism at NSU in order to build on everyone’s strengths and foster collaboration”, said Dr. Sheinberg. Dr. Klimas has developed a synegistic system of an integrated medicine care group surrounded by scientific research groups at Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine (INIM) that could serve as a template for creating a Center for Autism at NSU.

The collaborative brainstorming session allowed all attendees to make their voices heard to help determine the strengths and capabilities of NSU to be a leader in autism-related research and practice. The NSU capabilities well suited to impact autism research, practice, services, and education were distinguished by 5 main characteristics: Expertise & Experience, Facilities & Resources, Collaborations & Partnerships, Populations & Clinical Care, and Education & Students. The results can be found in the below summary infographic:

 

 

For a more detailed summary of the responses during the collaborative brainstorming session or for a copy of the summary report provided to attendees, please email Jordan Merritt, Ph.D., jm3137@nova.edu.