The Child Study Center is a department at Yale University School of Medicine which brings together multiple disciplines to further the understanding of the problems of children and families. Among the many disciplines are child psychiatry, pediatrics, genetics, neurobiology, epidemiology, psychology, nursing, social work and social policy. The mission of the Center is to understand child development, social, behavioral, and emotional adjustment, and psychiatric disorders and to help children and families in need of care. The Center is unusual in its scope of research, clinical services, training programs, policy work, and much local, state, national, and international collaboration. The strengths of the Center are reflected in the breadth and integrative nature of research, clinical services and training.

• Autism redefined: Yale researchers study impact of proposed diagnostic criteria. Click here to read the press release.
  
• Congratulations to Elena Grigorenko, Ph.D. on being named the inaugural holder of the Emily Fraser Beede Chair of Developmental Disabilties in the Child Study Center!
• Two Child Study Center Postdoctoral Fellows were honored this past November at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting held in Washington, D.C. The meeting is the world’s largest gathering of neuroscientists and one of the best sources of emerging news about brain science. Drs. Susan Goebel-Goody and Nikisha Carty of the Lombroso Lab presented their work on STEP and the role this protein might play in two different neuropsychiatric disorders. Their posters were selected, from a pool of over 16,000 research presentations, for Society-sponsored press releases and for discussion at two press conferences held during meeting.
• Dr. Steven Marans has been asked to join a Department of Justice task force  to examine and address the issue of children exposed to violence. Click here to read the press release.
• Apple is currently featuring the Yale Autism Seminar (an undergraduate course taught by Drs. Fred Volkmar and James McPartland) on the iTunesU homepage!
• Global Battleground or School Playground? The Bullying of America’s Muslim Children September 22, 2011: According to a new policy brief by Pia Britto, PhD, published by the Institute for Social Policy Understanding (ISPU) and released to the Department of Education, bullying, in school aged children, is on the rise. Typically, victims are singled out by physical appearance, ability level, and popularity. However, lesser known and equally strong is ethnic and religious discrimination among school children....
• Autism Screening Strikes Emotional Chord as seen in Journal of American Medical Association: Fred Volkmar agrees that interventions for autism do make a difference ...
• Fred Volkmar is quoted in the L.A. Times on August 15, 2011: “Children with autistic sibling face greater risk, study finds”. Researchers say there is a 19% chance that a child will have autism if he or she has an older sibling with autism. Older studies had put the risk of recurrence at 3% to 10%.
• Yale CSC Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellow Dr. Eric Arzubi was selected to receive the Resident Physician Community Service Award by the American Academy of Medical Colleges.  He will be given the award by the AAMC in Denver in November 2011. Congratulations Eric!
• Denis Sukhodolsky, Ph.D., child psychologist, was appointed as a Research Scientist at the Yale Child Study Center, effective July 1, 2011. He will be continuing his research concerning the efficacy and mechanisms of behavioral treatments for children with Tourette syndrome, autism and disruptive behavior disorders.
• Hanna Stevens MD, PhD, child psychiatrist and recent graduate of the Solnit Integrated Training Program, was appointed as assistant professor and Associate Training Director of the Solnit Program at the Yale Child Study Center, effective July 1, 2011. She will be continuing her research on mouse model systems of brain development and the early genetic and environmental risk factors that contribute to psychiatric disorders.
• On July 1, 2011 Mary Best, PhD was appointed as Assistant Clinical Professor in the Pediatric Neuropsychology Clinic at Yale, which is affiliated with the Child Study Center and the Department of Neurology.  Dr. Best’s clinical work will involve neuropsychological assessments of children whose cognitive development may have been adversely affected by medical illness or treatment.  She will work closely with the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center and the department of Pediatric Neurology at Yale New Haven Hospital.  Dr. Best will serve as supervisor for a postdoctoral fellow in the pediatric psychology track by providing clinical training and supervision in the area of neuropsychological assessment of children and adolescents
• Read the latest Child Study Center Newsletter more…
• Published May 9, 2011 in the American Journal of Psychiatry is a study done by our own Young Shin Kim, M.D., Ph.D., which looks at the prevalence rate of childhood autism in a middle-class city in South Korea.  Her research has yielded a figure of 1 in 38 children, a result that likely will influence the way the disorder’s prevalence is measured. To read the paper in AJP, titled “Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders in a Total Population Sample” click here.
• Yale Child Study Center faculty listed as top doctors by Connecticut Magazine, including: Robert King, M.D., James Leckman, M.D., Andres Martin, M.D., Kyle Pruett, M.SD., Dorothy Stubbe, M.D., and Fred Volkmar, M.D.
• Fred Volkmar was quoted in the Wall Steet Journal on April 4th. Click here to read the article.
• The Child Study Center's Centennial is featured in the February edition of the American Journal of Psychiatry! Click here to read the article!
• The Child Study Center's Centennial Celebration was featured in the January 2011 edition of Working@Yale.
• Child Study Center researchers have identified a pattern of brain activity that may characterize the genetic vulnerability to developing autism spectrum disorder. Click here to read the study, published in the early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Descriptions of the study may be found at Guardian.co.uk and My Health News Daily.
• The Yale Autism Seminar was highlighted in the Yale Daily Bulletin on November 5th. Click here to read the article. Click here to watch a short film clip on Yale University's YouTube channel.
• Dr. Paul Lombroso was on WTNH Channel 8 on October 20th, discussing his research on reversing the effects of Alzheimer’s disease. View the clip here.
• CSC Director Fred Volkmar was on WTNH Channel 8 on July 29th talking about the Child Study Center. View the segment online at WTNH.com.
• Discovery of Rare Genetic Mutation Could Help Battle Tourette Syndrome more…