Autism research can lead to evidence-based practices, but often there are challenges that impede the availability of these practices in community programs. How do we break the cycle of limited transmission from basic scientific research to implementing these evidence-based practices in community settings to reach affected populations? 

Researchers working on treatments for autism have started incorporating community members – from primary care provider to educators – directly into their research in order to ensure that recommended treatments are used as widely as possible and are effective in the real-world setting. 

This talk will discuss methods for developing effective research-community partnerships that can translate into better care. The signature event of the Autism Institute is the annual Autism & Public Health Lecture, a speaker series that brings top researchers to Philadelphia to talk about the latest in public health research on autism. Lectures are always open to the wider community and offer researchers the opportunity to engage with a general audience on the implications of their research. 

Aubyn Stahmer, PhD, Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the UC Davis MIND Institute, is an expert in implementation science and the translation of evidence-based autism research to community-based practice. Her research involves using community-partnered research models to translate high quality care to schools and early intervention settings. Dr. Stahmer has conducted extensive research in the areas of parent coaching, early intervention, inclusive education and services research in autism spectrum disorders. More recently she has been examining innovative ways of increasing access to evidence-based care to families of children with autism in rural and underserved areas. She is an editor of Autism: International Journal of Research and Practice.