SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE


Sven Bölte
Sweden
Ph.D., Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Science at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health at the Karolinska Institutet.##MORE## He is a senior clinical psychologist at the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Center for Psychiatry Research, Region Stockholm, Sweden. He is the Director of the KI Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (‘KIND’), editor of AUTISM, editor in chief of the Scandinavian Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychology and Psychiatry, and associate editor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health. He is a founder of the Scientific Society Autism Spectrum and international ADOS and ADI-R trainer. For his work, he has received several recognitions, and has published more than 350 original articles, reviews, book chapters, assessment and intervention tools in the field of autism spectrum, ADHD, and other neurodevelopmental conditions. Has sat on the last two Autism-Europe Congress Scientific Committees.
Katarzyna Chawarska
Poland, United States of America
Ph.D., Emily Fraser Beede Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Statistics and Data Science and the Director of the Social and Affective##MORE## Neuroscience of Autism Program at the Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine. She is a Principal Investigator of the NIH Autism Center of Excellence Program focused on identifying neural signatures of ASD during fetal, neonatal, and school-age periods. Her research has been focused on identifying early markers of core and co-morbid features of Autism. She’s a lead author on multiple publications and book chapters. She has served as the Chair of the Baby Sibling Research Consortium, and a Board member of the International Society for Autism Research.
James Cusack
United Kingdom
Dr Cusack became Chief Executive of Autistica in 2020 and is the UK's first openly autistic charity CEO. He joined Autistica in 2015 as the Director of Science following a career in autism research at the University of Aberdeen.##MORE## He has worked directly with families and other self-advocates. He has experience in clinical, educational and social care settings. He sat on a number of advisory panels discussing the role of research in autism. He was part of a core stakeholder group which successfully campaigned for Scotland’s first ever autism strategy. He has sat on the last Autism-Europe Scientific Committees.
Ewa Furgał
Poland
Founder and President of the Fundacja Dziewczyny w Spektrum (Girls on the Spectrum Foundation), organization empowering girls and women on the autism spectrum and creating safe space for them.##MORE## She an anti-discrimination and equality educator, winner of the Polcul Foundation award for civic activities. She is a member of research team at University of Warsaw working on the project ‘Queer people with disabilities in Poland’. She’s an author of the blog and initiative Dziewczyna w Spektrum (Girl on the Spectrum), also author of the project for non-working women with Asperger syndrome ‘Vocational Befriending’ admitted to the Social Innovation Incubator Transfer HUB.
Isabel Dziobek
Germany
Professor of Clinical Psychology of Social Interaction and Head of the University Outpatient Clinic for Social Interaction at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.##MORE## She is a psychotherapist interested both in understanding the bio-psycho-environmental mechanisms of order and disorder in social information processing. In her clinical work she focuses on autistic adults. She has a broad interests in research including: social cognition, neurobiology, technology and robotics. Along with Sven Bölte she started the German Society for Autism Researchers. Amongst other things, they hold an annual conference. She has also started a participatory group Autism-Research-Collaboration, which is a way to include autistic people in research design, activity and outputs.
Marcos Zamora Herranz
Spain
He is a psychologist specialized in ASD Assessment and Intervention. He had his Masters in Neuropsychology and Social Services Management.##MORE## He is involved with both charities and professional associations: he’s the CEO in Autismo Sevilla (Families of People on the Autism Spectrum Association in Seville region), president of AETAPI (Spanish Autism Professionals Association), executive Director of Master on Autism Spectrum Disorders (Universidad Pablo de Olavide). He’s also a member of Scientific and Organizing Committees of several International Congresses in Spain. He’s chosen as an author for the 4th Edition of Autism-Europe’s Document: ‘People with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Identification, Understanding and Intervention.
Ewa Pisula
Poland
Professor Pisula is the Head of the Department of Rehabilitation Psychology, Head of the Postgraduate Studies ‘Rehabilitation of children with##MORE## developmental dysfunctions’ at University of Warsaw, Member of Commission for Professorship and Member of the Council for the Dissemination of Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences. She cooperates with other researchers in the COST program: ‘Enhancing the scientific study of early autism’. Throughout her whole professional life she specializes in teaching about autism, supporting its society in Poland. She is the most known Polish researcher in the field.
Mateusz Płatos
Poland
Dr Płatos is a Faculty Member at the Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, and Vice-President of the Association for Social Innovation ‘Mary and Max’.##MORE## A psychologist, specializing in autism intervention and assessment, and a researcher, acknowledged as the ‘Rising Star’ in the community according to a survey by the JiM Foundation. He is best known for his research and putting into practice interesting forms of support, including befriending schemes (Peer Volunteers ‘Mary and Max’) and social skills training (a cultural adaptation of the PEERS program). He is the author of the report ‘Polish Autism Survey’ (2016) which is an impactful study of the situation of people with autism and Asperger syndrome in Poland. He combines his research with social activities for the autism community.
Emily Simonoff
United States of America, United Kingdom
Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the head of the Department and Academic Lead for the CAMHS Clinical Academic Group in King’s Health Partners.##MORE## Professor Simonoff is medically trained in psychiatry. She is American born but conducted her clinical training and research at the Institute of Psychiatry in London. She is a Senior Investigator in the National Institute of Health Research and a Theme Lead for Child Mental and Neurodevelopmental Disorders in the Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre. She is well-known for her work on co-occurring mental health difficulties (particularly anxiety) and autism.