Latest News

- Autism-Researchers-Explore-Role-of-Environmental
  
  October 17, 2025
  
  As screening and understanding of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) grows, a new national initiative tapping Drexel expertise aims to yield new insights for many of the 1 in 45 adults and 1 in 35 children in the United States living with autism. The role that both genetic factors, as well as environmental influences, play in development of autism are the focus of a new $50 million Autism Data Science Initiative (ADSI) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Drexel researchers with expertise studying the intersection of these exposures will be among those leading the new effort.
  
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- Reflecting on More Than a Year of Philly Joy Bank, a Community-Driven Guaranteed Income Program
  
  October 15, 2025
  
  With more than a year of the Philly Joy Bank program underway, the evaluation team now has some insights on the program's success based on survey data and testimonials.
  
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- Drexel Dornsife Launches Micro-Credentials for Long-Term Care and Infection Prevention
  
  October 06, 2025
  
  New public health micro-credentials deliver targeted, practical training for staff and leaders in skilled nursing facilities, senior living centers, and veterans' homes.
  
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- Virtual Panel on Autism: Science and Facts in a Time of Confusion
  
  September 30, 2025
  
  The A.J. Drexel Autism Institute addresses urgent questions raised by recent national discussions on autism.
  
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- Pinning Ceremony Tradition Welcomes New Students, Faculty and Staff to Dornsife
  
  September 18, 2025
  
  Dornsife's annual Welcome and Pinning Ceremony formally welcomed new students, faculty, and professional staff, including personnel from the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute.
  
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- New Research Recommendations for Supporting Autistic Adults to Ensure Their Communication Success
  
  August 14, 2025
  
  To better understand the communication difficulties experienced by autistic adults and help the clinicians and researchers who have autistic people in their lives, researchers from Drexel University’s A.J. Drexel Autism Institute reviewed recent research on the subject and crafted a set of recommendations.
  
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- A Look at Year Five of Drexel Dornsife's Public Health Summer Institute for High Schoolers
  
  July 23, 2025
  
  The annual Dornsife Institute for high schoolers aims to ignite the potential of future leaders in public health and keep the future workforce thriving.
  
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- New Research Reveals How Autistic Teens’ Brains Respond in Some Social Settings, Helping Them ‘Pass’ as Non-Autistic
  
  July 21, 2025
  
  Some autistic teens often adopt behaviors to mask their diagnosis in social settings helping them be perceived — or “pass” — as non-autistic. For the first time, researchers from Drexel University's A.J. Drexel Autism Institute are able to observe brain functions that differ in those who “pass as non-autistic,” which could lead to a better understanding of the cognitive toll of this kind of masking, and of how these individuals could be more effectively supported.
  
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- Autistic Adults Nearly 1.5 Times More Likely to Need Return Visits to Hospital for Mental Health Conditions
  
  July 17, 2025
  
  Researchers from Drexel University’s A.J. Drexel Autism Institute examined hospitalizations for mental health conditions in autistic adults to understand what features are associated with an increased risk for readmission to the hospital within a month of the initial discharge.
  
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- ‘Too Much Going On’: Autistic Adults Overwhelmed by Nonverbal Social Cues
  
  July 11, 2025
  
  In a new study, published in PLOS One, autistic adults describe the intense mental effort it takes to navigate nonverbal communication. Researchers from the University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom, Drexel University’s A.J. Drexel Autism Institute and Rowan University, reviewed 362 firsthand accounts on the online forum WrongPlanet.net, where autistic adults openly talk about communication challenges.
  
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