2009 Glenwood Endowed Lecture Series Presented by the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health

Keynote Speaker: Martha Herbert, MD

Emerging Science and Rising Numbers in Autism:
Implications and Opportunities to Help

Video of Dr. Herbert's presentation - coming soon!

Handouts from Dr. Herbert's presentation:
part one        part two        part three        part four

Dr. Herbert earned her medical degree at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Prior to her medical training she obtained a doctoral degree at the University of California, Santa Cruz, studying evolution and development of learning processes in biology and culture in the History of Consciousness program, and then did postdoctoral work in the philosophy and history of science. She trained in pediatrics at Cornell University Medical Center and in neurology and child neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital, where she has remained. She recently received the first Cure Autism Now Innovator Award and directs the Cure Autism Now Foundation's Brain Development Initiative. She is the Co-Chair of the Environmental Health Advisory Board of the Autism Society of America. Her research program includes studying what makes some autistic brains unusually large, how the parts of the brain are connected and coordinated with each other, and how we can develop measure sensitive to changes in brain function that could result from treatment interventions. To this end she utilizes multimodal imaging techniques including MRI, EEG and MEG, is particularly interested in using imaging, in coordination with clinical observation, metabolic biomarkers and animal studies, in shedding light on the physiological level of changes in autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders, and on potential domains of plasticity and targets for intervention.

Glenwood, the Autism and Behavioral Center of Alabama
Glenwood is a nonprofit organization with the goal of educating and treating children, adolescents, and adults with autism and severe behavioral health disorders. Glenwood provides behavioral health care and educational services to individuals and families, respecting the dignity of the individual and focusing treatment on individual needs in the least restrictive environment possible. Glenwood is also committed to research, with a scientific research committee of physicians, scientists, and clinicians working with UAB to improve treatment methods of individuals with autism and mental illness. Learn more at www.glenwood.org.

UAB School of Public Health
The UAB School of Public Health (SOPH) is a diverse community of scholars and professionals leading innovation in public health and combating emerging diseases. SOPH offers 22 programs of study under the departments of Biostatistics, Environmental Health Sciences, Epidemiology, Health Behavior, Health Care Organization and Policy, and Maternal and Child Health and supports five centers that conduct and facilitate research for the prevention and control of disease. SOPH graduates have gone on to serve as presidential advisors, health ministers, and ranking officials with prestigious public and private research institutions. Learn more at www.soph.uab.edu.