(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) - Aubyn Stahmer, an expert in the translation of evidence-based autism research to community-based practice and delivery, has joined the UC Davis MIND Institute as an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Stahmer, a licensed clinical psychologist, comes to UC Davis from UC San Diego, where she was research director of the Autism Discovery Institute at Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego, and associate director of the Child and Adolescent Services Research Center. "We evaluate how to take evidence-based interventions that are effective in research settings and make it possible to deliver them in settings where kids are getting usual care, in schools and early-intervention settings in the community," Stahmer said. She is an internationally respected expert in the use of naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions which are validated treatments for autism. Derived from developmental science and applied behavioral analysis (ABA), these interventions are play-based and child-initiated. Goals include the development of communication, language and positive social behaviors. Stahmer is the principal investigator of two U.S. Department of Education grants designed to examine methods of translating research-based interventions in collaboration with community providers. One adapted model, called Classroom Pivotal Response Teaching, is for classroom use in children 3 to 11. Another, Project ImPACT for Toddlers, provides parent coaching for very young children at risk for autism. Stahmer will continue that research, which is based in public schools and early intervention programs, at the MIND Institute, potentially including Sacramento-area public school and community settings. At Rady Children's Hospital Stahmer operated a preschool program for children from 18 months to five years with autism in a setting that also included typically developing peers. "Dr. Stahmer's expertise and interests complement and enhance our established programs of research on evidence-based practices in autism treatment," said Leonard Abbeduto, director of the MIND Institute. "She will extend the reach of the MIND Institute even further into our community, and so ensure we help even more families affected by autism." Stahmer said that she plans to work closely with Sally Rogers, professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and developer of the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) approach to early autism intervention. Together they will examine methods of increasing access to evidence-based care to families of children with autism in rural and underserved areas. "I am very excited to work with Dr. Rogers to examine new ways to increase access to ESDM in the community, both locally and internationally," Stahmer said. Rogers said she shares Stahmer's enthusiasm. "I am delighted to be able to work with such a wonderful scientist and clinician," Rogers said. "Her research and expertise in moving interventions from the lab into the community will be a great help to all the intervention scientists at UC Davis." Stahmer received her bachelor's degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She received her master's and doctoral degrees from UC San Diego. She will receive an annual base salary of $126,800. Additional compensation information is available upon request. At the UC Davis MIND Institute, world-renowned scientists engage in collaborative, interdisciplinary research to find the causes of and develop treatments and cures for autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), fragile X syndrome, 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, Down syndrome and other neurodevelopmental disorders. For more information, visit http://mindinstitute.ucdavis.edu
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Aubyn Stahmer Joins UC Davis MIND Institute