More than ever, scientists are realizing thattheir strongest advocates for advancing the

discovery front for causes and cures of disordersthat impact our children are members of thecommunity who recognize that biomedical andbiobehavioral research are the cornerstones ofimproving the lives of all individuals.

National research efforts over the past 40+ yearshave been the envy of the world. They have beenresponsible for the dramatic changes in healthoutcomes, including the development of newmedications by the pharmaceutical industry, new

technologies for earlier and more accurate diagnoses of diseases, and a muchbetter understanding of the value of healthy and active lifestyles.

Voices from the Community

Director’s Message

Pat Levitt, Ph.D.

An image of the developing cerebral cortex of a mouse prior to birth is stained to showthe presence of MET gene. It shows that MET is produced at high levels during thepeak of development of this part of the brain, which is one of the major structuresinvolved in processing complex information. This indicates that MET is associatedwith autism spectrum disorder, which disrupts the development of the cerebral cortex.

Researchers have identified a common gene variant that more thandoubles the risk of autism. The research, led by investigators at the

Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development,provides new insights into the genetic basis of the complex disorder.

An international team of scientists led by research fellow DanielCampbell, Ph.D., and Pat Levitt, Ph.D., reported that a genetic variantassociated with the MET gene is common in children with autism andappears more frequently in families that have more than one affectedchild. The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academyof Sciences.

Although both environmental and genetic factors are likely involved inautism, mounting evidence suggests that genes play an important role inan individual’s susceptibility to the disorder.

“Autism is recognized as the most highly heritable neuropsychiatricdisorder,” said Levitt, professor of pharmacology and Vanderbilt KennedyCenter director. “In identical twins, the concordance is between 70percent and 90 percent, meaning that if one twin has autism, the othertwin is at very high risk of having the disorder.”

While the search for autism vulnerability genes has intensified in recentyears, most studies have identified only linkage peaks, or areas on specificchromosomes where such genes might lie. Chromosome 7 contains severalsuch “hotspots,” but few promising susceptibility genes have beenidentified in the region.

Harry R. Jacobson, M.D., VanderbiltUniversity Medical Center vice chancellor

for health affairs, announced the creation of theAnnette Schaffer Eskind Chair held byPat Levitt, Ph.D., the director of the VanderbiltKennedy Center.

Eskind has played an active role in support-ing public and special education throughoutMiddle Tennessee for many years. The AnnetteSchaffer Eskind Chair represents her commit-ment as the founding chair and a longstandingmember of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Leadership Council and as anadvocate for children with special needs.

“There is one true thing to be said of Annette Eskind: she is involved,”Jacobson said, “from her days as a social worker, to her experience with theBoard of Education, her leadership in the arts community, and herprominence in advocating for strong cultural

Annette Schaffer EskindChair EndowedBy Jan Rosemergy

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Gene Variant CarriesIncreased Risk of AutismBy Melissa Marino

Annette Eskind

While conducting research ongenes involved in brain developmentin mice, Levitt’s team had found thatthe MET gene—a gene typicallyassociated with cancer—was involvedin the development of certain cir-cuits within the cerebral cortex, abrain region whose development isdisrupted in autism.

“This gene also happens to belocated in one of those ‘hotspots,’”Levitt said.

Additionally, MET has knownroles in the development of thecerebellum—another brain regionimplicated in autism—and in immunesystem regulation and gastrointestinal repair.Some children with autism exhibitmedical problems related to those systems.

Given these associations and MET’s chromo-somal location, Levitt wondered if this genecould be involved in autism vulnerability.

In the current study, Levitt and colleaguesanalyzed the MET gene in more than 700 fami-lies who had at least one child with autism. Theyfound that children with autism commonly had aspecific change in the sequence of the promoterregion of the gene, the part of the gene thatregulates the amount of MET protein produced.

“This variant is in the part of the gene that con-trols how much of the gene gets expressed . . . kindof like ‘volume control’ on a stereo,” Levitt said.

People with two copies of this variant were

2.27 times as likely to have autism as the generalpopulation. Individuals with only one copy werealso at higher risk (1.67 times) than those with-out the variant.

“This is a relatively common variant, seen inabout 47 percent of the population,” Levitt said.“So why doesn’t everybody have autism?”

That speaks to the environmental and othergenetic contributions, Levitt said. “Genes create avulnerability that then gets coupled with someenvironmental disturbance—but right now, wedon’t have any idea what those factors might be.”

But these findings do help set the stage formore in-depth investigation of the interactionbetween genes and environmental factors inanimal models. Levitt is now creating animalswith this genetic variant to assess environmental

contributions and probe the under-lying biology of autism.

“This mutation itself is not goingto be diagnostic,” he said. But ifother genetic variations are identi-fied that carry similar robustassociations with autism, screeningfor a combination of these variantscould facilitate the early identifica-tion of those at high risk of autism.

And improving early diagnosismight be the best way to help treator prevent the disorder.

“The more genetic vulnerabilitygenes we identify, the better handlewe have on designing experiments tolook at gene-environment interac-tions,” Levitt said. “We think thiswill be the way to understand autism

and prevent it.”Daniel Campbell, Ph.D., a research fellow in

Levitt’s lab, was first author on the paper. OtherVanderbilt authors were James Sutcliffe, Ph.D.,associate professor of molecular physiology andbiophysics, and Philip Ebert, Ph.D., research fel-low in pharmacology.

The research was funded by grants from theNational Institutes of Health, Marino AutismResearch Institute, Telethon-Italy, Cure AutismNow, National Alliance for Autism Research,Fondation Jerome Lejeune, and NationalAssociation for Research on Schizophrenia andDepression.

The research findings have been widely reported,including in Newsweek and TIME, and on MSNBCand CNN.

and human relations. Annetteand her late husband, Irwin, havebecome synonymous withgenerosity, not only to Vanderbiltbut throughout this community.”

The establishment of the chairwas announced November 15 atthe Vanderbilt Kennedy CenterLeadership Dinner at LoewsVanderbilt Hotel.

A graduate of the BostonUniversity School of Social Work,Eskind worked for many years ascasework supervisor for JewishFamily Service in Nashville.She is a member of the NationalAssociation of Social Workersand the Academy of CertifiedSocial Workers.

Throughout her career, Eskind has beeninvolved in dozens of civic activities. She servedon the Nashville Board of Education for 9 yearsand was founder and president of the

Nashville Public Education Foundation.She is the recipient of the Human Relations

Award of the National Conference of Christiansand Jews, the Alexis deTocqueville Award of theUnited Way, and the Academy of Women of

Achievement Award of the YWCA.Eskind and her late husband have been

generous supporters of the Medical Center fordecades. Two facilities on the Medical Centercampus bear the family’s name, the Eskind

Biomedical Library and the Vanderbilt-EskindDiabetes Clinic.

Levitt has served as the director of theVanderbilt Kennedy Centersince 2002. The VanderbiltKennedy Center is a nationalDevelopmental DisabilitiesResearch Center and a UniversityCenter for Excellence inDevelopmental DisabilitiesEducation, Research and Service.

“The highest honor foranyone in academics at auniversity is to hold a namedchair,” Levitt said. “It reflectsrecognition, by your colleaguesand the community, that youhave made significantcontributions in your field ofstudy, and that they expect thisto continue. The AnnetteSchaffer Eskind Chair has evengreater meaning for me,

personally, because of the unparalleled dedica-tion and generosity that Annette and her familyhave exhibited to the Vanderbilt Kennedy Centerand to the University at large.”

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Pat Levitt and Daniel Campbell, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center researchers, make importantbreakthroughs in autism-related research.

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Steven Gabbe, Gordon Gee, Annette Eskind, Pat Levitt, and Harry Jacobson

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Last month, the U.S. Congress passed intolaw the Combat Autism Act, developed throughgrassroots efforts of national and local organi-zations, including the Autism Society ofAmerica, Cure Autism Now, and AutismSpeaks. These now are influential organiza-tions, launched by families whose lives hadbeen altered for a lifetime by the increasingprevalence of the diagnosis of autism spec-trum disorder. Almost $1 billion dollars over10 years will be available with the sole intent ofsupporting the efforts that are needed todiscover the causes and to define new treat-ments and possible cures for a disorder thataffects 1 in 166 children.

In the context of the national budget, I havetermed it a drop in the bucket, considering thedramatic financial and emotional impact thatautism can have on the lives of individuals,their families, and communities around thecountry. But this was, in total, a remarkableconvergence of advocates, not professionallobbyists, who told the stories that made ourpolicy makers sit up, take notice, and respondwith a call to action. The new effort alreadyhas attracted the best scientific minds in thecountry to get involved in autism-relatedresearch.

These grassroots research advocacy effortsare now being discussed as a model for devel-opmental disabilities, which for far too longhave been both under-researched and wayunder-funded.

The National Down Syndrome Society hasgathered the strong voices of parent advocatesspearheading national strategic efforts to bringa spotlight for a far greater effort in researchfunding. Their message is straightforward: ifgiven the chance, research efforts will bringnew biomedical, behavioral, and educationalinterventions and programs to address alifetime of needs for individuals with Downsyndrome, a disorder that is diagnosed inapproximately 1 in 700 live births.

Community voices in the area of mentalhealth advocacy for more research funding arebeing heard more and more by our nationalleaders.

Policy makers are beginning to hear themessage that supporting the very best inresearch efforts will help our nation emergeout of a situation in which an individual witha developmental disability or mental healthdisorder may require millions of dollars in careover a lifetime.

More than ever, communities are establish-ing the priorities that will impact both today’sand tomorrow’s generations of individualswith developmental disabilities and their fami-lies. In addition, scientists are recognizing thatwe have a responsibility to work harder thanever to be in harmony with voices that areproving to be more and more effective.

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It is not often that researchers who map the brain’sauditory system have an opportunity to sit in the

same room and talk for two days with researcherswho do clinical work using auditory interventionsdesigned to improve listening comprehension inpeople with disabilities.

What is known about the auditory system—andhow much is yet to be known—was the subjectof a Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (VKC) two-dayconference that brought together Vanderbilt’s ownremarkable cadre of auditory system and languageintervention experts with several of the nation’sleading researchers in the field.

The conference “Integrating Auditory Perception,Processing and Comprehension: New Directions forResearch,” held September 28-29, was organized byStephen Camarata, Ph.D., professor of hearing andspeech sciences and director of the VKC ResearchProgram on Communication and Learning. Alsoinstrumental in planning the conference wereVanderbilt Hearing & Speech Sciences facultymembers and VKC researchers Mark Wallace, Ph.D.,Daniel Polley, Ph.D., and Troy Hackett, Ph.D.

The conference was an outgrowth of theVanderbilt Kennedy Center’s commitment, laid outin its strategic plan, to build research strength inauditory system development, plasticity, andfunction, and to become a national and internationalleader in auditory research.

“Great strides have been made in understandingthe visual and somatosensory systems,” said Centerdirector Pat Levitt, Ph.D., in opening the conference,“but the auditory system is a modality that has beenunder-represented.”

Each of the dozen researchers who presented ispreparing papers that will be published and willcontribute to setting a future national researchagenda, Camarata indicated.

“Our goal was to span the breadth of the field,”Camarata continued, “both basic and applied clinicalresearch—from basic processes, with maps of the

auditory cortex, animal andhuman imaging, andgenetics, through appliedclinical interventions.Putting it all together is sovery important.”

Troy Hackett kicked offthe conference with apresentation on the anatomyof the auditory cortex, basedon research with nonhumanprimates. He emphasizedthat the long-term goal is tounderstand the structure andfunction of human auditorycortex organization. “We area long way from achievingthis,” Hackett acknowledged.

Daniel Polley summarized neurophysiologicalcorrelates of perceptual learning in the auditorycortex, work that is based on a rat animal model.The long-term goal of his research program is todevelop therapies for auditory processing disordersthat are based on state-of-the-science understandingof the auditory system and brain plasticity.

The focus shifted to applying understandings ofperceptual learning with Beverly Wright’s presenta-tion on human discrimination learning on basicauditory tasks. Wright, Ph.D., associate professor ofcommunication sciences and disorders,Northwestern University, emphasized theoreticalimplications. “Our sensory systems are not rigid, butchange with experience, and by studying how peoplelearn we can infer basic processes,” Wright said. Sheemphasized that increased knowledge of auditorylearning will advance clinical practice for users ofhearing aids and cochlear implants, individuals withlearning disabilities, and nonclinical populations,such as musicians.

Vanderbilt’s Mark Wallace focused on multi-

sensory processes—the interactions among hearing,

vision, and touch. Based on work with the cat

animal model, he summarized that multisensory

neurons and multisensory integration develop over a

protracted period of postnatal life in both cortical

and subcortical circuits. In addition, the maturation

of multisensory processes appears to be critically

dependent on the sensory experiences acquired

during early postnatal life. Wallace went on to

present behavioral and fMRI evidence for a multi-

sensory framework for dyslexia.

ERP (Event Related Potential) measures of

auditory processing and applications were addressed

by Sasha Key, Ph.D., Vanderbilt research assistant

professor of hearing and speech sciences and

director of the VKC Psychophysiology Lab. She

emphasized that ERPs are noninvasive, are inexpen-

sive, and provide accurate temporal resolution. This

technique also allows comparisons across life span

and populations and

Mapping How the Brain HearsBy Jan Rosemergy

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Conference presenters, left to right, front row: Sasha Key, Patricia Deevy, BeverlyWright; middle row: Mark Wallace, Ron Gillam, Leonard Kaczmarek, Joseph Solus;back row: Shihab Shamma, Christoph Schreiner, Daniel Polley, Troy Hackett,Stephen Camarata, Richard Woodcock

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For most of us, relationships with our siblingsprovide our longest lasting family ties. As

persons with disabilities are increasingly livinglonger lives, siblings become future caregivers,taking the parents’ role. Currently, 526,000 personswith developmental disabilities are over the age of60. By the year 2030, that number is expected torise to 1.5 million.

Sibling Research ConsortiumAs a result of the growing population of agingpersons with disabilities, the Sibling ResearchConsortium was established. Begun in 2003, theConsortium is a collaborative effort of researchersfrom several universities interested in siblings ofindividuals with disabilities and The Arc of theUnited States, with leadership provided by theVanderbilt Kennedy Center’s Family ResearchProgram. For additional information, seekc.vanderbilt.edu/kennedy/research/siblingconsortium.html.

Adult Sibling QuestionnaireWith the help of the Consortium, VanderbiltKennedy Center members, Robert Hodapp, Ph.D.,professor of special education, and RichardUrbano, Ph.D., research professor of pediatrics,compiled a national, web-based Adult SiblingQuestionnaire for siblings to help researchersunderstand the relationships and needs of adultsiblings of persons with disabilities. All respon-dents were at least 18 years old and have a siblingwith a disability.

Hodapp and Urbano examined six major areas:joint activities and involvement, relationship

with brother/sister,brother/sister support needs,transitions, knowledge of skillsand needs, and reflections.

Preliminary findingsshowed differences acrossgender for siblings of personswith different disabilities andfor siblings who are closerversus less close to theirbrother/sister with a disability.Overall, almost 75% of allsurvey respondents werefemale, and females (asopposed to males) reportedthat they spent more timeeach month with theirbrother/sister with a disability.

While females and males reported similarly closerelationships, females reported that they hadbenefited more from this relationship.

Differences also emerged among siblings ofpersons with Down syndrome, with autism, andwith other disabilities. Compared to the other twogroups, siblings of brothers/sisters with Downsyndrome had more contact and closer relation-ships. These siblings also showed slightly betterhealth and lower levels of depressive symptoms.Across age of the brothers/sisters with disabilities,all groups showed lessened contacts, but both theDown syndrome and the Autism groups (but notthe Other Disabilities group) showed less closesibling relationships when their brothers/sisterswith disabilities were aged 30-44 (in Downsyndrome) and 45 years and older (in both Downsyndrome and Autism groups).

A final finding related to closeness. Siblings whoconsidered their sibling relationships to be closerspent more time with their brother/sister with adisability and reported that they had benefitedmore from this relationship.

Reflecting on this study, Hodapp noted that “Wehave found that people want to do this survey andwant to tell their story.” As the first ever nation-wide survey, “We have a database and a richness ofresponses that, to my knowledge, has not beendone anywhere else.”

Though they do not have disabilities themselves,siblings of brothers/sisters with disabilities haveexperiences and needs that must be addressedthroughout the lifespan. For the sake of every-one—brothers, sisters, parents, providers, andespecially the family member who has special

needs—siblings and their concerns should notbe ignored.

SibSaturdaysThe Vanderbilt Kennedy Center collaborates withseveral disability groups in the Nashville area tooffer a program called SibSaturdays. This programacknowledges that being the brother or sister of aperson with special needs is for some a good thing,for others a not-so-good thing, and for many,somewhere in-between. It reflects a belief thatbrothers and sisters have much to offer oneanother—if they are given a chance. SibSaturdaysinvolve a spirited mix of games (designed to beunique, off-beat, and appealing to a wide abilityrange), new friends, and discussion activities. Forinformation, contact (615) 936-5118. Sibling sup-port groups also are available in other Tennesseeareas. Sibshops were developed by Don Meyer,director of the national Sibling Support Project.

SummaryFor information on sibling research or programs,contact ucedd@vanderbilt.edu or(1-866) 936-8852.

Supporting SiblingsBy Traci Fleischman

Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Excellencein Developmental Disabilities

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Siblings are affected by their brother or sister with a disability and are likely toaffect that person throughout their lives.

Hussain Ali Maseeh (center), Psy.D, of United ArabEmirates, with Elisabeth Dykens (left), Terri Urbano, EliseMcMillan, and Traci Fleischman. The Vanderbilt KennedyCenter UCEDD and the Vanderbilt MIND TrainingProgram coordinated and hosted Maseeh’s visit, Dec. 4-8.Sponsored by the Association of University Centers onDisabilities, the purpose of the visit here and to otherUCEDDs was to provide technical assistance on interven-tion and inclusive early childhood services, includinginterdisciplinary assessments, evaluation practices, andfamily-centered practices, with the goal of establishing anearly intervention system in Dubai.4

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Treatment and Research Institutefor Autism Spectrum DisordersSer v ices , Tra ining, and Research

for Aut i sm Spec t rum Disorders

Vanderbilt Kennedy Center’s autism researchteam is joining an elite group of 11 institu-

tions that are combining clinical and geneticsexpertise for a large-scale study of families withone child with autism in hopes of one day under-standing what genes underlie autism.

A 3-year, $1 million grant from the SimonsFoundation has the Vanderbilt Kennedy Centerwell-positioned to foster an ideal environmentfor its team to recruit, evaluate, and sample“‘simplex”’ families, meaning that only one childis presenting indicators of being on the autismspectrum.

The Simons Foundation Simplex FamilyResource Project is a multi-center trial enter-prise/cooperative that includes HarvardUniversity, Yale University, Emory University, theUniversity of Michigan, McGill University(Montreal), Columbia University (New York),University of Illinois-Chicago, UCLA, Universityof Washington (Seattle), and WashingtonUniversity (St. Louis).

The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center will recruit 75to 100 families in the first year of the project and100 families in subsequent years. The group of 11project sites will collectively recruit 1,000 ormore families who have one child with autism, atleast one child without autism, and both parents.

“This is an extremely important step in ourefforts to advance research in the genetics,molecular biology, and cognitive neuroscience ofautism and autism spectrum disorders,” saidGerald Fischbach, M.D., scientific director of theSimons Foundation. “I believe that this groupwill form a vital and intellectually stimulatingcore resource.”

James Sutcliffe, Ph.D., associate professor ofmolecular physiology and biophysics, is theCenter’s overall principal investigator for theproject. The phenotype principal investigator isWendy Stone, Ph.D., professor of pediatrics andpsychology and TRIAD director. ZacharyWarren, Ph.D., clinical assistant professor ofpsychiatry, is overseeing the clinical operationand will be responsible for coordinatingall aspects of the study at the Vanderbiltrecruitment site.

“Vanderbilt and groups including the AutismGenetic Resource Exchange have collectivelyrecruited large samples of families with twoor more children with autism in the past,”Sutcliffe said. “What has been missing is asimilarly large and clinically well-characterized,

set of ‘simplex’ families in which there is onlyone affected member.”

Sutcliffe said this project is important becauseit will develop a large resource consisting of acollection of families and related samples (DNA)and clinical/phenotypic data on the affected childand parents and siblings.

“This data and DNA will be put into a reposi-tory so qualified scientists and research groupscan apply different strategies to study genes andbehavior and relationships between the two,”Sutcliffe said. “By making the data and sampleswidely available, and by letting people try differ-ent approaches to discovery, we believe that realprogress can be made. By bringing the top autismresearch institutions and theirscientists together, the Simons Foundation andthe investigators are able to put the best minds towork to make the discoveries we need to under-stand what causes autism.”

Simons Foundation Simplex Family Resource ProjectBy Craig Boerner

TRIAD Workshopsand PSEP

Families with both parents who have one child with autismand at least one child without autism are invited to takepart in this important project to help understand thegenetics of autism. Contact Genea Crockett or SharletAnderson, Vanderbilt Center for Human Genetics Research(615) 343-5855.

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Autism Behavior Management Workshopfor ParentsDuring this 3-session workshop, parents learnhow autism affects their child’s behavior.TRIAD staff show caregivers how to imple-ment evidence-based strategies for increasingdesired behaviors, teaching new skills, anddecreasing inappropriate behaviors. The work-shop is open to parents and others who aredirectly involved in the care of the child withautism, 4 to 12 years.

Integrating Different MethodologiesWorkshop for TeamsThis 4-day workshop serves families, schoolpersonnel, and therapists. Participants learnhow to use teaching methods consistent withthe principles of applied behavior analysis tocreate a comprehensive educational programfor students with autism spectrum disorders.Training teams consist of up to four individ-uals and may include parents, teachers,teaching assistants, consultants, therapists,or other personnel working with the child.

TRIAD Autism 101 Workshop for PreschoolProvidersThis workshop serves teachers, classroomassistants, speech-language pathologists,occupational therapists, and other providersworking in a preschool or daycare setting.TRIAD staff provide basic information aboutautism. Participants learn about the earlyfeatures of autism, the characteristics andlearning styles of young children with autism,and evidence-based approaches for behaviormanagement and teaching new skills.

PSEP ClinicThrough the Parent Support and EducationProgram (PSEP), autism specialists provideinformation, support, and consultation forparents of children under 4-years-old andsiblings. PSEP provides three clinic visits.Consultations are individualized to each family.

For information on scheduling, fees, andregistration, contact TRIAD@vanderbilt.edu,(615) 936-1705.

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Grants AwardedKAROLY MIRNICS, M.D.Associate Professor of

PsychiatryVanderbilt Kennedy

Center MemberJoined Vanderbilt

Kennedy Center 2006

Research InterestsMy long-time interestis gene expression pro-

files of brain disorders, particularly gene expres-sion patterns in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.Neuroimmune and synaptic changes in schizo-phrenia are of particular interest. Other projectsinvolve Alzheimer’s disease, autism, epilepsy, andmultiple sclerosis, as well as developing novelDNA microarray technologies. In my lab weroutinely use in situ hybridization, immunohisto-chemistry, laser dissection microscopy, qPCRand DNA microarray analyses. Furthermore,laboratory operations are expanding to perform invitro and in vivo assays that are mechanisticallyaddressing the transcriptome profile changes, aswell as generating transgenic mice relevant to ourunderstanding of the pathophysiological processesin brain disorders.

Principal Investigator• Family cognitive-behavioral prevention of

depression, National Institute of MentalHealth

• Neocortical transcriptome changes inschizophrenia, National Institute of MentalHealth

• Cortical circuitry and cognition inschizophrenia, National Institute of MentalHealth

National Service and Awards• Counterdrug Technology Assessment Center of

ODNCP (Office of the President of the USA),2000-2004

• Member of the Foreign Scientist Council of theHungarian Academy of Sciences, 2003-present

• Faculty of 1000 Medicine, Neurogenetics Section,2004-present

• Elected to American College ofNeuropsychopharmacology 2005

• Elected to European College ofNeuropsychopharmacology 2005

• Elected editorial board member, BiologicalPsychiatry, 2005

Selected Publications• Mirnics, K., Korade, Z., Arion, D., et al. (2005).

Presenilin-1-dependent transcriptome changes.Journal of Neuroscience, 25, 1571-1578.

• Mirnics, K., Levitt, P., & Lewis, D. A. (2006).Critical appraisal of DNA microarrays in psychi-atric genomics. Biological Psychiatry, 60, 163-176.

• Arion, D., Unger, T., Lewis, D. A., & Mirnics, K.(in press). Molecular markers distinguishingsupragranular and infragranular layers in thehuman prefrontal cortex. European Journal ofNeuroscience.

EducationR.N., 1980, Nursing, University of Novi Sad,

YugoslaviaM.D., 1986, Medicine, University of Novi Sad,

YugoslaviaResidency, 1987-1989, Clinical Pharmacology,

University of Novi Sad, YugoslaviaM.S., 1989, Psychology, University of Novi Sad,

Yugoslavia

Attraction to Developmental DisabilitiesResearchDevelopmental disorders are devastating at thelevels of individual, family, and society. Despite this,developmental brain disorders remain greatlyunderstudied and poorly understood to date.I strongly believe that with joint research andadministrative efforts we can make a difference inthe lives of individuals with developmentaldisabilities. Knowledge is the essential power sourcefor developing various therapies in the broadestsense of the word. A comprehensive understandingof developmental brain disorders will allowimplementing preventive measures, and will lead todeveloping early diagnostic/intervention strategiesand designing drugs that specifically target thecritical features of developmental disorders. I wantto be a small piece of the solution. I want to knowthat I contributed something to a future interven-tion that will change the lives of individuals withdevelopmental brain disabilities.

Reasons for Kennedy Center MembershipAs a scientific community, we came to therealization that the complexity of developmentalbrain disorders requires that we comprehensivelyanalyze them, and none of the researchlaboratories can do this alone. Fortunately, we livein an integral world where information can beshared in real-time across disciplines. However,integrating research efforts is only a first steptoward developing effective treatments ofdevelopmental disorders. The Vanderbilt KennedyCenter, under the leadership of Drs. Levitt andDykens, recognizes the need for integrationamong families, clinicians, researchers, adminis-trative agencies, and various social groups.Together, and only together, we can achieveamazing things, and through the existence andvision of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center weintegrate our efforts, ideas, hopes and dreams.

Leading the Vanguard of DiscoveryPsychoeducational impact of minimal sensorineuralhearing loss in childrenFred Bess, Ph.D. (Hearing & Speech Sciences)National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research

Regulation of Shh signaling activity in limb patterningChin Chiang, Ph.D. (Cell & Developmental Biology)National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Shaping a Shh morphogen gradientMichael Cooper, M.D. (Neurology)National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Adolescent self-management of diabetes: An interventionShelagh Mulvaney, Ph.D. (Hearing & Speech Sciences)National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Parent education program to address sleep disorders inlearners with autism spectrum disorderBeth Malow, Ph.D. (Neurology)Organization for Autism Research

Family risk for ADHD and infant neuropsychologyJulia Noland, Ph.D. (Psychology & Human Development)National Institute of Mental Health

Etiology of working memory deficit in schizophreniaSohee Park, Ph.D. (Psychology)National Institute of Mental Health

Perceptual circuits in somatosensory corticesAnna Roe, Ph.D. (Psychology)National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Fast optical imaging of cortical signals in the behavingprimateAnna Roe, Ph.D. (Psychology)National Institute on Drug Abuse

Early intervention and treatment of autism spectrumdisorderWendy Stone, Ph.D. (Pediatrics)Autism Speaks

Baby Siblings Research Consortium Project on prospectiveevaluation of head and brain: Growth in infants at highrisk of autism(supplement)Wendy Stone, Ph.D. (Pediatrics)Autism Speaks

Development of a PhD clinical sciences program in VietnamBahr Weiss, Ph.D. (Psychology & Human Development)Fogarty International Center

Individual differences in extrastriatal dopamine releaseDavid Zald, Ph.D. (Psychology)National Institute on Drug Abuse

Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Nicholas HobbsDiscovery Grants

Pilot testing of an intervention for attachment-impairedpreschool foster childrenLinda Ashford, Ph.D. (Pediatrics), Patti van Eys, Ph.D.(Psychology & Human Development), Bahr Weiss, Ph.D.(Psychology & Human Development), Paris Goodyear-Brown,M.S.S.W. (Nursing)

Plasticity in developing postnatal auditory system and itsrole in auditory perceptionDaniel Polley, Ph.D. (Hearing & Speech Sciences)

Sleep characteristics and cognitive functioning in typicalchildren and children with autismSasha Key, Ph.D. (Hearing & Speech Sciences), Beth Malow,Ph.D. (Neurology), Wendy Stone, Ph.D. (Pediatrics)

Discovery Grant Donated by Mr. and Mrs. B. JamesGreenfield and Family in Memory of Mark Greenfield

Predictors of health outcomes in infants with DownsyndromeRobert Hodapp, Ph.D. (Special Education), Richard Urbano,Ph.D. (Pediatrics)

W i n t e r 2 0 0 7 D i s c o v e r y

Vanderbilt Peabody College of education ofhuman development has created a new

endowed chair in honor of one of its mostinfluential faculty, Susan Gray. Ann Kaiser,professor of special education and psychology anddirector of the Vanderbilt KennedyCenter Research Program on Families,has been named as the holder of thenew chair.

“Ann Kaiser excels in her roles asprofessor, scholar, and colleague and hasestablished a record that deserves thehigh recognition involved with a chairedappointment,” said Dan Reschly, pastchair of the Department of SpecialEducation. “Dr. Kaiser is a superb scholarin the area of language interventions forchildren with developmental delaysand disabilities. She is an unusuallyperceptive scholar and colleague. She isan outstanding University citizen whowill carry the chair title with dignityand class.”

The establishment of the chair was announcedOctober 20 in a lecture and reception in honor ofSusan Gray at the Cohen Building on the Peabodycampus. The chair wascreated with funding froman anonymous donor.

During her tenure atVanderbilt, Kaiser hasserved as chair of theDepartment of SpecialEducation and actingassociate dean forGraduate Studies andResearch. She is theauthor of more than125 articles and chapterson early language andbehavior interventionsfor young children with disabilities and childrengrowing up in poverty. She has been the principleinvestigator on research and training grants fromthe U.S. Department of Education, the National

Institute of Mental Health, the U.S.Department of Health and HumanServices, and the National Institute forChild Health and HumanDevelopment.

Kaiser’s primary area of research isearly intervention for children withdevelopmental disabilities and childrenat risk. She has received numerousawards for her research and mentoring,including the Harvie BranscombDistinguished Professorship atVanderbilt University.

Kaiser received her Ph.D. in develop-mental and child psychology from theUniversity of Kansas. She has been a

faculty member at Vanderbilt since l983.Susan Walton Gray earned her M.A. in 1939

and her Ph.D. in 1941 from George PeabodyCollege, which merged with Vanderbilt in 1979.She returned to campus in 1945 to join the

psychology faculty, where she remained until herretirement in 1978.

Gray was motivated by a deep concern for theeducation of underprivileged children. Highlights

of her career includeproviding the intellectualframework for Project HeadStart, collaborating on thedevelopment of the John F.Kennedy Center forResearch on Education andHuman Development, andfounding its Demonstrationand Research Center forEarly Childhood Education,which she directed. She wasinstrumental in theKennedy Center having anon-campus, research-

oriented school, the Experimental School, whichwas renamed the Susan Gray School in 1986 inrecognition of Gray and her enduring contributionto the welfare of our nation’s young children.

Susan Gray

Ann Kaiser

Endowed Chair Honors Susan GrayBy Melanie Moran

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correlations with standard assessments.

Key reviewed ERP data on speech and language

issues in dyslexia, Williams syndrome, Down

syndrome, and treatment effects during speech

intervention, reading intervention, and

cochlear implants.Joseph Solus, Ph.D., Vanderbilt research

assistant professor of molecular physiology andbiophysics, presented potential candidate genesfor receptive language disorders.

Auditory processing in the context of broadcognitive abilities was reviewed by RichardWoodcock, Ed.D., Vanderbilt visiting professorof hearing and speech sciences. Woodcockprovided evidence that auditory processingability is, in fact, a key correlate of overallintellectual ability. He speculated that thisrelationship is not due to hearing ability butto a broad ability to interpret rapidly andeffectively and to store sensory information.

Ron Gillam, Ph.D., distinguished professor ofcommunicative disorders and deaf education,Utah State University, addressed results of arandomized clinical trial of Fast ForWordlanguage intervention in school-age childrenwith language impairment. He reported thatspecific training on tone discrimination,phoneme (speech sound) discrimination, andother auditory training techniques did notresult in significant improvements in auditorycomprehension.

This result was in agreement with a recurringtheme during the conference: Neural plasticityis triggered by task-specific learning, but theplasticity does not appear to generalize readilyto other skills.

“The challenge now is to develop interven-tions that directly treat and improve auditorycomprehension,” Camarata said.

Other topics and national presenters were:auditory cortical receptive fields—forms andtransformations, Christoph Schreiner, M.D.,Ph.D., professor of otolaryngology, Universityof California-San Francisco; attention andplasticity in the auditory cortex, ShihabShamma, Ph.D., professor of electricalengineering, University of Maryland; geneticsof neural ion channels in the auditory cortex,Leonard Kaczmarek, Ph.D., professor ofpharmacology and cellular and molecularphysiology, Yale University; and sentenceprocessing and typical and atypical develop-ment, Patricia Deevy, Ph.D., research associatein speech, language, and hearing sciences,Purdue University.

Camarata characterized the conference as an“amazing array of issues and talents.”

Mapping How theBrain Hears from page 3

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You and your work have had greatinfluence on the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.Foundation by causing it to concentrateon early intervention in child developmentand the role of the family in the intellectual,emotional, and physical growth of children.Your full, productive, and influential careerhas produced real change in the lives ofyoung children in America.

—Eunice Kennedy Shriver, on the occasionof Dr. Susan Gray’s retirement in 1978

W i n t e r 2 0 0 7 D i s c o v e r y

To have students from a variety of cultures is notenough to make a school multicultural. For a

school to be truly multicultural, these culturesmust be embraced, and these individuals must beencouraged to contribute their own uniqueperspectives and experiences to empower theorganization as a whole. Susan Gray School (SGS)is filling this tall order and thus may be considered“multicultural” through its mission, its program-ming, and its commitment to teaching that“differences are beautiful.”

Embracing CulturesThe Susan Gray School currently has childrenfrom France, England, Afghanistan, Ivory Coast,China, Thailand, Korea, Uruguay, Mexico, andIndia, to name a few.

“I think that Nashville is very international,”said SGS teacher, Jane Hussain. “The public schoolsystem is dealing with more than 65 languages.Vanderbilt itself is an extremely international placebecause of the researchers and scientists who comehere from all over the world. It would be a shamefor our curriculum not to be influenced, for us notto take advantage of all that richness.”

When Seema Deshpande first toured theschool with her daughter, Apoorva, they weremet with great excitement about their beingfrom India.

“One of the first things they talked about wasthat the children were learning about India for the‘Holidays Around the World’ event,” Deshpanderemarked. “Not just about the Asian continent, butIndia as a distinct country. This was very attrac-tive for me. Though I want my children to have

the best of what is here, because we are

settled here now, I don’t want them tolose that link to their culture. That,coupled with the fact that I knew beingschooled with children with special needswould encourage Apoorva to learnpatience, made me realize that I didn’tneed to look at other schools.”

Encouraging ContributionsFor “Holidays Around the World,”families are invited to share their culturalrituals, foods, and histories. Each class-room chooses a country and decorates inways that represent that culture. Familiesprovide pictures and items such asmusical instruments and textiles fromtheir native lands to transform the

classroom. Parents are encouraged tovisit and tell stories and sing songs in theirnative language.

“We talk with staff about the impor-tance of valuing families,” said MichelleWyatt, SGS assistant director. “We wantfamilies to know that our staff value theirperspective and beliefs and want them toshare those with their child’s teachers andclassroom.”

Hussain’s classroom of 1- to 2-year-oldschose Thailand. They decorated the wallswith little white lights and with pictures ofBuddhist temples.

“Being so young, the children couldn’tunderstand Buddhism or temples, but theycertainly enjoyed having the ceiling lightsoff and watching the little white lightstwinkle in honor of the King’s birthday,”said Hussain.

Studying other cultures makes its way intothe curriculum in many different ways. One ofHussain’s students is fed through a feeding tube.She notes how important it is that the girl’s othersenses be stimulated. Smell, so connected withtaste, is of great importance. So they cooked Thaisoup and let pineapples and mangoes ripen inthe classroom.

“We might not have chosen pineapples andmangoes unless we had been studying Thailand,”said Hussain. “These are unique tastes and smellsfor the children to experience. Pam had theexperience of smelling these wonderful and exoticsoups and fruits. Now, hopefully, when she is oneday able to eat with her mouth, she will be inter-ested in tasting those fruits that smelled so good.”

Empowering the WholeLila King’s father, Richard, believes that it isextremely important to expose children todifferences at an early age.

“One of the reasons we wanted Lila to attendthe School is that we wanted her to grow upfeeling that being with people who weren’ttypically developing was important for overridingcertain cultural social prejudices,” King said. “Forme, that’s all a part of building a tolerant attitudetoward people, which includes becoming aware ofand receptive to cultural differences.”

Schools play an extremely important role inshaping how its students define what is “norma-tive.” As a community, Susan Gray School staff areteaching sensitivity and inclusion and allowingstudents to experience the reality that we are livingin a global village.

“We are laying the foundation for thechildren’s future view of diverse cultures, values,and beliefs,” Wyatt said. “We have a hugeresponsibility.”

“Children learn what they see,” statedDeshpande. “They must learn about other culturesat an early age so that they don’t find it out of theordinary when they come into contact with cul-tures that are different from their own. This canenable them to think, ‘Oh! This is really neat’rather than ‘Oh! There is something wrong withyou because you are different.’ What’s that saying?You point one finger and four fingers pointback at you? I don’t want my kids to grow uppointing fingers.”

Multiculturalism—“Around the World” EverydayBy Courtney Evans

Benjamin Dykens-Hodapp and Christopher Nixon celebrate theculture of Mexico

Coco Wang and Inca Sole Picon learn about Hanukkah.

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Susan Gray School Where Knowledge Meets NurturePeabody College of Vanderbilt • Vanderbilt Kennedy Center

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Navigating service systems tends to be compli-cated, so imagine how tough it can be for

Spanish-speaking families who have a child oradult family member with a disability. ConnectingHispanic families with disability services—as wellas with health, education, and social services—is apriority of Tennessee Disability Pathfinder, aproject of the Vanderbilt Kennedy UniversityCenter for Excellence on DevelopmentalDisabilities supported by the Tennessee Councilon Developmental Disabilities.

Pathfinder Hispanic ServicesLeadership for identifying Hispanic disability serv-ices statewide is provided by Pathfinder’s ClaudiaAvila-Lopez, Hispanic outreach coordinator. Freeinformation and referral is provided throughPathfinder’s Español phones, (615) 400-4422Nashville, and (615) 322-7830 statewide.

“Pathfinder’s Hispanic outreach is distinct fromother information and referral services like 211because we specialize in disability resources andwork directly with families to understand thevariety of services needed,” explained Avila-Lopez.“Then we support the family throughout theprocess and follow up to see that servicesare obtained.”

A web-linked directory of Español national,state, and community resources is found onPathfinder’s website, www.familypathfinder.org,which also includes a database of over 1,200Tennessee agencies searchable by county andservice category.

Carolina Meyerson, Pathfinder Hispanicoutreach specialist, works one-to-one withHispanic families at the Woodbine CommunityCenter. She leads Pathfinder’s newest Hispanicservice, a monthly evening support group forparents of children with disabilities, held at theVanderbilt Kennedy Family Outreach Center.

“We’re especially pleased that we have dadstaking part, as well,” Meyerson said.

“Collaboration is essential for helping families

get the services they need,”emphasized Carole Moore-Slater, Pathfinder director.

Middle Tennessee ConferenceCollaboration was the hall-mark of Pathfinder’s secondannual Hispanic DisabilityConference held Dec. 6 at theKnowles Senior Center.

The first panel“Disability Services in theHispanic Community” high-lighted programs of MetroSocial Services, the MentalHealth Association of MiddleTennessee, and Pathfinder.

In a unique collabora-tion, these agencies have developed a web-baseddirectory of Nashville community organizations.Criteria for inclusion include the agencyhaving a staff member fluent in Spanish, anddisability or social service programs thatspecifically serve Spanish-speaking families.See www.caminoseguro.org. The database will beexpanded to become statewide.

“We’re stronger if we collaborate,” stressedLuz Belleza of Metro Social Services. She alsoemphasized the importance of educating families.“We can coordinate but in the end they need totake the necessary steps.”

The Mental Health Association’s Luisa Houghcoordinates Encuentro Latino, a monthly meetingof agency staff who share information aboutservices and problem-solve together. Interestedservice providers are welcome.

“We work together so well we know oneanother by first names,” Hough said. “We’re friendsin action.”

The second panel addressed Health CareServices for Individuals with Disabilities, withpresentations by coordinators of Hispanic servicesat Bridges to Care, TennCare, and Children’sSpecial Services.

The final panel was an overview of servicesacross the life-span, highlighting prenatal servicesprovided by the Vanderbilt Center for HealthServices’ Maternal Infant Health Outreach Workerprogram at the Woodbine Community Center,Outlook Nashville’s preschool home visiting andcenter-based programs, and Metro Public School’searly childhood and school-age services.

West Tennessee ConferenceAn Hispanic disability conference will be held April5 in Memphis in conjunction with the BolingCenter UCEDD.

For information contact claudia.avila@vanderbilt.edu,(615) 322-8529 ext. 11.

W i n t e r 2 0 0 7 D i s c o v e r y

Connecting Hispanic Families with ServicesBy Jan Rosemergy

Claudia Avila-Lopez and Carolina Meyerson, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center HispanicDisability Outreach, Luisa Hough, Mental Health Association of Middle Tennessee,and Luz Belleza, Metro Social Services

Directories will be available for West, Middle, andEast Tennessee.

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Tennessee Disability Pathfinder is a free,statewide, disability information and referralservice in English and Spanish, covering alldisabilities and ages. Services are provided byphone, internet at www.familypathfinder.org,and printed directories.

2007-2008 Disability Services and SupportsStatewide DirectoryTo be published in 2007 in 3 volumes:West, Middle, and East Tennessee$25 per directory

To order, contactashley.coulter@vanderbilt.edu(615) 322-8529 ext. 15 (local)(800) 640-4636 (toll-free)

Disability Services Directories2007-2008

Spotlight

W i n t e r 2 0 0 7 D i s c o v e r y

A Multi-FacetedApproachALYNE MASSEY

By Traci Fleischman

Alyne Massey haslong been dedicated to

Vanderbilt University with anongoing interest in childrenand youth services, medicalresearch, and education. Dueto her commitment, shebecame part of the VanderbiltKennedy Center LeadershipCouncil in 2000. AnnetteEskind, founding Chair ofthe Leadership Council,invited Massey to join theCouncil and the NicholasHobbs Society. Masseybecame intrigued with the Center’s missionand wanted to help raise money to support itsactivities.

“The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center is soimportant to the community. If word about thegreat work at the Center gets out, families know

where to go for help. The treatments and researchare able to reach those who will benefit,”explained Massey. “The Center’s faculty and staffare helpful, knowledgeable, and available.”

Massey is a long-time resident of Tennessee.She moved from New Haven, Connecticut, toColumbia, Tennessee, after her father decided toopen a private law practice there after teaching

at Yale Law School formany years. Masseygraduated from Ward-Belmont PreparatorySchool and VanderbiltUniversity.

Massey serves onseveral boards throughoutNashville, WashingtonD.C., and Palm Beach,Florida, as well as on theadvisory board of theVanderbilt Board of Trust.She also is a lifetimetrustee of CheekwoodBotanical Garden andMuseum of Art.

“Alyne is a good friendand a great community

advocate for important issues in Tennessee,”Eskind said. “When she commits to something,she not only commits personally, but shecommits financially. She is a past co-chair for theVanderbilt Kennedy Center’s annual LeadershipDinner and continues her efforts with theCenter today.”

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Kennedy Center DonorsThe Nicholas Hobbs Society($1,000 and above)

Mr. and Mrs. Howell E. Adams Jr.Mr. and Mrs. Herb AgnerSenator and Mrs. Lamar

AlexanderMrs. Ben J. AlperMr. Robert C. AndrewsMr. and Mrs. J. Barry BankerMr. and Mrs. Joseph N. BarkerMr. and Mrs. E. Warner BassMr. and Mrs. Lee BeamanMrs. Ann BernardMs. Heather BohnMr. and Mrs. Jack O. Bovender Jr.Ms. Ashley BrooksMr. and Mrs. Dan BrooksDr. Elbert BrooksMrs. Linda BrooksMs. Wendy BrooksMr. and Mrs. Martin S. Brown Sr.Mr. and Mrs. Martin S. Brown Jr.Dr. and Mrs. Stephen M. CamarataMr. and Mrs. William CapucilliMr. and Mrs. Monroe J. Carell Jr.Mrs. Juanita CateMr. and Mrs. James H. Cheek III

Dr. Joseph S. ChengMr. and Mrs. Joe Chickey

Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert L. ChiltonMr. and Mrs. Whit ClarkMr. and Mrs. Roy E. Claverie Sr.Mr. and Mrs. John ClayMr. and Mrs. Thomas F. Cone Sr.Dr. and Mrs. Joe Ed ConnDr. Michael Cooper and Ms.

Bethany JacksonMrs. Marie Brakenridge DoddMrs. Helen DoughertyMr. and Mrs. Carl DreifussMr. and Mrs. Glenn EadenDr. Kathie L. EaglesonMrs. Molly EdmondsonMr. Robert D. EisensteinMr. and Mrs. John Bernard ElamMr. and Mrs. Robert H. ElmanDr. and Mrs. Ronald EmesonMrs. Annette S. EskindDr. and Mrs. Jeffrey EskindMr. and Mrs. Richard J. EskindDr. and Mrs. Steven J. EskindMrs. Frank M. Farris Jr.Mr. and Mrs. Jeff FisherDr. Robert Fox and Ms. Dona TappDr. and Mrs. Thomas F. Frist Jr.Mr. and Mrs. William R. FristDrs. Douglas and Lynn FuchsMr. and Mrs. Glenn R. Funk

Drs. Steven G. Gabbe and PatriciaC. Temple

Dr. William M. GaviganMr. and Mrs. Joel C. GordonDr. and Mrs. John C. GoreMr. and Mrs. B. James GreenfieldMr. and Mrs. William F. HarnischMr. and Dr. E. Howard HarveyMr. and Mrs. William H. HawkinsMr. and Mrs. J. Michael HayesDr. H. Carl HaywoodDrs. Stephan Heckers and

Christine KonradiMr. and Mrs. Blake HendersonMrs. Carol HendersonMr. David Henderson and

Dr. Lynnette HendersonMr. Robert W. Henderson IIMr. and Mrs. G. Daniel HewittMr. D. H. HirsbergDrs. Robert Hodapp and

Elisabeth DykensMr. and Mrs. John HoffDr. Ann P. KaiserDr. Craig Kennedy and

Ms. Tiina HyvonenDrs. Mark Jacokes and Wendy StoneMr. Jonathan M. KentMr. and Mrs. Jim KnestrickMrs. Elsie C. Kraft (deceased)

Mrs. Heloise Werthan KuhnMr. and Mrs. Jonathan L. LehmanDr. and Mrs. Pat LevittMr. and Mrs. Irving LevyMr. and Mrs. Luke LewisMs. Jan Abby LiffMr. and Mrs. Michael F. LovettMr. and Mrs. John K. LytleDr. Mark A. Magnuson and

Ms. Lucile HouseworthMr. and Mrs. Dan MarinoMrs. Jack C. MasseyMr. and Mrs. Henry C. McCallMr. and Mrs. James M. McCartenDr. and Mrs. Richard McCartyMs. Andrea Blake McDermottMr. and Mrs. Bruce McDermottMr. and Mrs. Tom McMillanMr. and Mrs. Richard L. MillerDrs. Karoly Mirnics and Zeljka

Korade-MirnicsDr. and Mrs. Thomas E. Nesbitt Jr.Mr. and Mrs. Bernard A. OsherMr. and Mrs. Clyde OstlerMs. Mary PartinMr. Stephen Pert and Dr. Beth MalowCol. Robert Phillips Jr. and

Mrs. Barbara Gregg PhillipsMr. Mark PittseyMr. and Mrs. Keith Resnick

Dr. and Mrs. Charles E. RoosDrs. Dan and Jan RosemergyMr. and Mrs. Richard SappenfieldDrs. Phil and Dikkie SchoggenMrs. Joan ShayneMr. and Mrs. Steven SheehanMr. and Mrs. R. Sargent ShriverMs. Laurie Lee SiskMr. and Mrs. Richard M. SmallMr. Alden H. Smith, Jr.Mr. and Mrs. Lester SpeyerMr. and Mrs. Stuart SpeyerDr. and Mrs. William Anderson

Spickard IIIDr. and Mrs. Anderson Spickard, Jr.Mr. and Mrs. Timothy L. StaffordDrs. Gregg Stanwood and

BethAnn McLaughlinMs. Elise SteinerDrs. Marshall and Karen SummarDr. and Mrs. James SutcliffeMrs. Mary Jane SwaneyMr. and Mrs. Earl SwenssonDrs. Richard and Mary Theresa

UrbanoDr. and Mrs. William O. Whetsell

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Mollie Burd Gavigan,a member of the

Vanderbilt KennedyLeadership Council,passed away onNovember 27. She was along-time friend andsupporter of theVanderbilt KennedyCenter, along with herhusband Dr. William Gavigan, III. She was apassionate advocate for children and adults withintellectual or other disabilities. She took specialpride in her contributions to the establishment ofthe Hand-in Hand Program for students withintellectual disabilities at Pope John Paul II HighSchool in Hendersonville, where her daughterJeanne is a junior. In addition to Jeanne, she issurvived by three sons, William, Joey, and Michaeland their families. Charlotte Gavigan, herdaughter-in-law, is a new member of theLeadership Council. “Mollie was involved in manyprograms that take research-based best practicesinto the community,” said Elise McMillan, associatedirector of the Vanderbilt Kennedy CenterUCEDD. “She knew personally the overwhelmingneeds of individuals with disabilities and theirfamilies, and she worked tirelessly to make remark-able changes.”

Tribute to MollieGavigan

Continued on page 11

“From Dinner to Discovery” was thetheme of the Vanderbilt Kennedy

Center Leadership Dinner heldNovember 15 at Loews Vanderbilt Hotel.Thanks to a record number of 325attendees and to table sponsorships andHobbs Donor Society memberships, theDinner raised $129,000, the largestamount to date to fund Discovery Grantsfor innovative research.

The annual event was planned byDinner Chairs Deborah Lovett and DanaAtkins; Cathy Stewart Brown, LeadershipCouncil Chair; and Barbara GreggPhillips, Past Chair, and other LeadershipCouncil members.

“The evening was a gala celebrationdemonstrating community support forscientific discoveries to create a betterfuture for individuals with disabilitiesand their families,” said Brown. “We allwant to thank our extraordinary DinnerCommittee chairs, Deborah Lovett andDana Atkins, who made this dinner ahuge success.”

“Everyone who attended is stilltalking about the wonderful videodescribing the unique relationship asibling has with a brother or sisterwith a disability,” Brown continued.Produced by Kent Communications,the video featured interviews of siblingpairs across a range of disabilities—autism, Down syndrome, Williamssyndrome—and across the life span.It also described research on siblingrelationships led by VanderbiltKennedy Center researchers.

“When I came to Vanderbilt, I hadan image in my head of what it meantto do research on developmentaldisorders,” said Vanderbilt KennedyCenter director Pat Levitt in hisremarks. “I have come to learn there isso much more. The Vanderbilt KennedyCenter is so special because we have

embraced the impact that we can haveon individuals with developmentaldisabilities, and their families.”

The need is dramatic, Levitt empha-sized, “One in six—the number ofindividuals with a developmentaldisability. One in three—the number offamilies in the U.S. impacted by someonewith a developmental disability.”

Levitt briefly described researchinitiatives and announced recipients of2006-07 Discovery Grants (see “GrantsAwarded” p. 6).

Levitt concluded, “I thank all of youfor being part of our extended family thathas enabled us to reach beyond theordinary—to strive to be extraordinary.”

The evening’s celebration culminatedwith the announcement by HarryJacobson, M.D., Vanderbilt vicechancellor for health affairs, of theestablishment of the Annette SchafferEskind Chair to be held by the director ofthe Vanderbilt Kennedy Center forResearch on Human Development, PatLevitt, Ph.D.

“There is one true thing to be said ofAnnette Eskind,” Jacobson said. “She isinvolved. She and her late husbandIrwin have become synonymous withgenerosity, to Vanderbilt but alsothroughout the community. Annette, weare honored that you would lend yourname to this important chair.”

Jacobson praised Levitt for his achieve-ments “as a researcher, mentor, andleader.”

Members of the Nicholas HobbsSociety received the 2006 commemo-rative plate featuring “Flower Fairies”by Anne Ambrose. This is the fifth in aseries, initiated by Mrs. Harla Levitt,which features art by a child or adultwith a developmental disabilityselected from the Center’s annualart exhibits.

W i n t e r 2 0 0 7 D i s c o v e r y

Cathy Stewart Brown, Annette Eskind, and Barbara Gregg Phillips

From Dinner to DiscoveryBy Jan Rosemergy

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Leigh Ann and Orrin Ingram, Deborah and Michael Lovett, and Dana Atkins

In his remarks, Director Pat Levitt emphasized that one in six individuals has adevelopmental disability and that one in three families in the U.S. is affected.

Kennedy Center Donors from page 10

Honor and Memorial Gifts

In Memory of Mr. Harold “Jobe”BernardDr. and Mrs. Pat Levitt

In Memory of Meyer BickmanDr. and Mrs. Pat Levitt

In Memory of Mrs. Mollie B.GaviganMrs. Linda BrooksDr. and Mrs. Pat Levitt

In Honor of Mr. Ben HoughMr. and Mrs. Peter E. Aylen

In Honor of Mr. Daniel HoughMr. and Mrs. Peter E. Aylen

In Memory of Mrs. Elsie C. KraftMr. and Mrs. Douglas A. DworkinJoseph and Lynn May FoundationMs. Molly TannerMrs. Patricia W. Wallace

In Memory of Abram ShmerlingDr. and Mrs. Pat Levitt

In Honor of Dr. Arnold Straussreceiving the American HeartAssociation Basic ScienceResearch AwardDr. and Mrs. Pat Levitt

Every effort has been made toensure the accuracy of thisreport, which reflects Honorand Memorial gifts September1-December 31, 2006, and giftsmade earlier but not in time tobe acknowledged in the Fall2006 Discovery. If an error hasbeen made, we offer our sincer-est apology and ask that youbring it to our attention bycontacting (615) 343-5322.

The Nicholas Hobbs Society ismade up of donors who give$1,000 or more annually to theCenter or one of its programs.Through their gifts, HobbsSociety members advancegroundbreaking research inhuman development.

For information about joining theNicholas Hobbs Society or mak-ing Honor or Memorial gifts,contact (615) 343-5322.

Discovery is a quarterly publication of the Vanderbilt KennedyCenter designed to educate our friends and the community, fromNashville to the nation. The Center is committed to improving thequality of life of persons with disabilities of thinking, learning,perception, communication, mood and emotion caused bydisruption of typical development. The Center is a university-wideresearch, training, diagnosis, and treatment institute. It is anational Mental Retardation and Developmental DisabilitiesResearch Center funded by the National Institute of Child Healthand Human Development, and a University Center for Excellencein Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) funded by theAdministration on Developmental Disabilities.

kc.vanderbilt.edu (615) 322-8240 (1-866) 936-VUKC [8852]

Pat Levitt, Ph.D., Vanderbilt Kennedy Center DirectorElisabeth Dykens, Ph.D., Associate DirectorBethAnn McLaughlin, Ph.D., Faculty Director of Community

& Special ProjectsTim Stafford, Director of OperationsJan Rosemergy, Ph.D., Director of Communications

Research Program DirectorsKendal Broadie, Ph.D., Developmental Neurobiology & PlasticityStephen Camarata, Ph.D., Communication & LearningElisabeth Dykens, Ph.D., Mood & EmotionAnn Kaiser, Ph.D., & Robert Hodapp, Ph.D., FamiliesWendy Stone, Ph.D., Autism Spectrum Disorders (TRIAD)

UCEDDElisabeth Dykens, Ph.D., DirectorElise McMillan, J.D., Associate Director; ServicesTerri Urbano, Ph.D., TrainingRobert Hodapp, Ph.D., ResearchJan Rosemergy, Ph.D., Dissemination

DiscoveryEditor/Writer: Jan Rosemergy, Ph.D.Assistant Editors/Writers: Courtney Evans, Traci FleischmanArt Director: Melanie Bridges, B.F.A.

Discovery is supported in part by Grant No. HD 15052 fromNICHD and Grant No. 90DD0595 from ADD.Vanderbilt University is committed to principles of EqualOpportunity and Affirmative Action© 2007 Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Vanderbilt University

VanderbiltUniversityVanderbiltKennedyCenterPeabodyBox40230 AppletonPlaceNashville,TN37203

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Leadership Council ofVanderbilt Kennedy Center

Mrs. Cathy S. Brown, ChairMrs. Annette S. Eskind, Past ChairMrs. Barbara Gregg Phillips, Past Chair

Mrs. Honey AlexanderMs. Sissy AllenMrs. John S. AtkinsMrs. Jean Ann BankerMrs. Madge BassMrs. Ann BernardMrs. Barbara T. BovenderMrs. Linda BrooksMs. Mary L. CarlsonMrs. Juanita CateMrs. Rebecca ChickeyMrs. Beth DreifussMrs. Ann EadenMrs. Donna G. EskindMr. Glenn FunkMrs. Charlotte GaviganMrs. Bernice GordonMrs. Carol HendersonMr. Robert W. Henderson IIMs. Lucile HouseworthMs. Bethany JacksonMrs. Ruth JohnsonMrs. Harla LevittMr. Chris and Mrs. Rebecca LinkMrs. Michael F. LovettMrs. Lorie Hoppers LytleMrs. Jack C. MasseyMs. Andrea Blake McDermottMs. Pat McNellisMrs. Anne NesbittThe Honorable Andrew ShookhoffMs. Laurie Lee SiskMrs. Sue SpickardDr. Karen L. Summar

Ex-Officio MembersDr. Pat LevittMrs. Hilrie BrownDr. Elisabeth DykensDr. BethAnn McLaughlinMrs. Elise McMillanMr. Tim Stafford

Friday, May 188 a.m. Shotgun Start

Waddell & Reed Financial ServicesCharity Golf Tournament

Vanderbilt Legends Club's Roper'sKnob Course

Benefiting the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center

A great morning of golf, door prizes, coldbeverages, and lunch

Entry fee; contact(615) 343-5322

W i n t e r 2 0 0 7 D i s c o v e r y

Hold the Date

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Number 15 Winter 2007

FEBRUARY 12Lectures on Development and DevelopmentalDisabilitiesAccounting for the Uneven Linguistic ProfilesSeen in Children With Specific LanguageImpairmentLarry Leonard, Ph.D., Rachel E. StarkDistinguished Professor of Speech-LanguagePathology, Purdue UniversityMonday 4:10 p.m., Room 241Vanderbilt Kennedy Center/MRL Building

FEBRUARY 16Statistics & Methodology Core Seminar SeriesChoosing the Best Items: A Practical Guide toPsychometricsWarren Lambert, Ph.D., Assistant Director ofStatistics & Methodology CoreLunch providedPre-registration requiredkc.vanderbilt.edu/pre-registerFriday 12 noon, Room 241Vanderbilt Kennedy Center/MRL Building

FEBRUARY 24SibSaturdayFun, games, activities, and conversation forchildren, ages 5-7 and 8-13 years, who have asibling with a disability$10/child or $20/familyAdvance registration requiredContact roxanne.carreon@vanderbilt.edu,(615) 936-5118Saturday 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (lunch provided),Room 241Vanderbilt Kennedy Center/MRL Building

MARCH 14Developmental Disabilities Grand RoundsThe Quest for a Cognitive Neuroscience ofSchizophrenia: The Case of Working Memoryand Prefrontal CortexSohee Park, Ph.D., Associate Professor ofPsychology and Vanderbilt Kennedy CenterInvestigator

Co-Sponsor Center for Child Development,PediatricsLight breakfast providedWednesday 8 a.m., Room 241Vanderbilt Kennedy Center/MRL Building

MARCH 22-23Lectures on Development and DevelopmentalDisabilities and Brainstorm 2007Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers: Stress, Diseaseand Coping (Thursday)Stress and Where Stress-Related DiseasesCome From (Friday)Robert Sapolsky, Ph.D., Professor of BiologicalSciences, Professor of Neurology & NeurologicalSciences, Professor of Neurosurgery, StanfordUniversityThursday 4 p.m., Room 103 Wilson HallFriday 9 a.m., Room 241Kennedy Center/MRL Building

APRIL 4Developmental Disabilities Grand RoundsPrader-Willi and Williams Syndromes:New Insights Into Behavioral Strengthsand ProblemsElisabeth Dykens, Ph.D., Professor ofPsychology, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center AssociateDirector and UCEDD DirectorCo-Sponsor Center for Child Development,PediatricsLight breakfast providedWednesday 8 a.m., Room 241Vanderbilt Kennedy Center/MRL Building

APRIL 16Lectures on Development and DevelopmentalDisabilitiesTriple Vulnerability in the Development ofAnxiety and its DisordersDavid Barlow, Ph.D., Professor of Psychologyand Psychiatry, Director of Center for Anxietyand Related Disorders, Boston UniversityMonday 4 p.m., Room 241Vanderbilt Kennedy Center/MRL Building

APRIL 18Neuroscience Graduate Seminar SeriesImmature Brain Is Not a Miniature Adult Brain:Energy and Ions During DevelopmentMaria Erecinska, Ph.D., Professor, Departmentof Anatomy, University of BristolWednesday 4:10 p.m.Room 1220 MRB III Lecture Hall

APRIL 22-28Nashville Week of the Young ChildVanderbilt and community sponsorsEvents to be announcedSee kc.vanderbilt.edu/kennedy/woycContact Nashville Area Association for theEducation of Young Children (615) 383-6292

MAY 7Special LectureThe Autistic Brain: Observations andControversiesMargaret Bauman, Ph.D., Associate Professor ofNeurology, Harvard UniversityMonday 4:10 p.m., Room 241Vanderbilt Kennedy Center/MRL Building

Unless otherwise noted, events are free and open to the public. Events are subject to change. Please check the calendar on our website kc.vanderbilt.edu or

call (615) 322-8240 or toll-free (1-866) 936-VUKC [8852]. For disability-related training and other events statewide and nationally see Pathfinder Disability Calendar www.familypathfinder.org.

2007 Calendar of Events

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Young children with Specific Language Impairment is the topicof a February 12 lecture.

DSAMT Events

Disability Calendar

Access Nashville

Tennessee Disability Conference

Disability Pathfinder

Take Part in Research

SibSaturdays

ASMT Events

Arts & Disabilities

Camps

Number 15 Winter 2007

S u m m e r 2 0 0 3 D i s c o v e r y

Vanderbilt Kennedy Center ExhibitsMonday-Friday 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., LobbyVanderbilt Kennedy Center/MRL Building

February 12-May 30Artism: Project OnwardAn exhibition of work by visual artists withautism from the studio of Project Onward,

a program of the Chicago Department of

Cultural Affairs

Thursday, May 24Reception for Artists 5 p.m.Autism and the Arts Workshop 6 p.m.(Autism Society of Middle Tennessee)Room 241Vanderbilt Kennedy Center/MRL Building

The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Excellence inDevelopmental Disabilities, with national andcommunity organizations, sponsor inclusivesummer camps:Explorers Unlimited Academic Camp(Down syndrome)Transitions (intellectual disabilities)TRIAD Social Skills Camp (autism)Music Camp (Williams syndrome)Contact gretchen.herbert@vanderbilt.edu,(615) 322-8147

A Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Excellence inDevelopmental Disabilities program for childrenwho have brothers or sisters with disabilitiesAges 5-7 and 8-13 yearsFun, games, activities, and conversation$10/child or $20/familyFinancial assistance availableAdvance registration requiredContact roxanne.carreon@vanderbilt.edu, (615)936-5118Saturdays, dates to be announced, Room 241Vanderbilt Kennedy Center/MRL Building

MAY 31-JUNE 2Fifth Annual Tennessee DisabilityMegaConferenceHighlights include world-class speakers,informative workshops, agency fair, funevening events, awards banquet

Nashville Airport Marriott: $79/night plus tax;reserve by May 9 to receive this rate; use key-word: TN Disability Mega Conference; contact(615) 889-9300 or (1-800) 228-9290

For information, see tndisabilitymegaconference.orgPhone, web, print resources

www.familypathfinder.orgEnglish (615) 322-8529,(1-800) 640-INFO [4636]Español (615) 322-8529 ext. 11

Internet calendar of training and otherdisability-related eventskc.vanderbilt.edu/tnpathfinder/calendar.html

2007-2008 Disability Services and SupportsStatewide DirectoryTo be published in 2007 in 3 volumes:West, Middle, and East Tennessee$25 per directoryTo order, contactashley.coulter@vanderbilt.edu(615) 322-8529 ext. 15

A volunteer organization dedicated to identifying“accessibility-friendly” locations in Nashville incollaboration with volunteers in the disabilityand business communities. Accessibility surveysof restaurants, entertainment attractions, andhotels available on Nashville Convention andVisitors Bureau website. Volunteer and receivefree training. Consultation and informationprovided for organizations interested in replicat-ing this project in other towns and cities. A proj-ect of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center forExcellence in Developmental Disabilities and theTennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities

Contact tnpathfinder@vanderbilt.edu,(615) 322-8529 ext. 12kc.vanderbilt.edu/accessnashville

StudyFinderChildren and adults, with and withoutdisabilities, are invited to take part in research.See kc.vanderbilt.edu/studyfinderContact Lynnette Henderson (615) 936-0448;tollfree (1-866) 936-VUKC [8852]

Autism Society of Middle Tennesseewww.autismmidtenn.orgASMT event information (615) 385-2077Registration is requested for all eventsASMT members free; nonmembers $5/family

FEBRUARY 22How Cultural Differences Influence theAutism EpidemicRoy Richard Grinker, Ph.D., Professor ofAnthropology and the Human Sciences, GeorgeWashington UniversityThursday 6:30 p.m.,Room 241Vanderbilt Kennedy Center/MRL Building

MARCH 29Understanding Social/Sexual Behavior andVulnerability in Autism Spectrum DisordersDena Gassner, M.S.W., The Center forUnderstandingThursday 6:30 p.m., Room 241Vanderbilt Kennedy Center/MRL Building

Down Syndrome Association of Middle TNwww.dsamt.orgDSAMT event information (615) 386-9002

MAY 4 & 5Third Statewide Conference

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“Artism” exhibit features works by Chicago visual artistswith autism.