Meet the Speakers!
Dr. Evdokia Anagnostou is a Child Neurologist and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto and Vice President of Holland Bloorview’s Research Institute. As a Senior Clinician Scientist, she co-leads the Autism Research Centre (ARC) at Holland Bloorview and University of Toronto. She holds the Canada Research Chair in Translational therapeutics in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and the Dr. Stuart D. Sims Chair in Autism at Holland Bloorview. Most recently she has been elected as a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. Dr. Anagnostou has received extensive international funding to understand the underlying biological differences associated with ASD and other neurodevelopmental differences, translate such understandings into potential novel interventions. She is also funding health system innovation, stakeholder engagement, and in understanding the meaning and impact of ASD in marginalized populations. She serves on multiple government committees on improving diagnostic and intervention pathways, and several editorial boards and grant review panels. She has also been recognized for her contributions to training young clinicians and scientists and for her commitment to women in STEM. She currently represents the region of America- North on the INSAR Global Senior Leaders committee.
Dr. Mayada Elsabbagh is a Professor in Neurology and Neurosurgery at The Neuro of McGill University. She is also appointed as a Research Scientist at the McGill University Health Centre where her program is integrated with diagnosis and support services for autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions. Her research focuses on understanding the root causes of autism and tracing its developmental pathways across the lifespan. Her team uses developmental models to explain complex interactions of risk and protective factors leading to variable outcomes in autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions. Her scientific contributions include the discovery of very early brain function markers for autism before the onset of behavioural signs and the scale-up of community-based interventions. The approach combines innovative research with the mission of accelerating the pace of discovery and its translation into community impact. To achieve this, the team relies on converging methods that span techniques for the study of brain development (EEG, eye-tracking), behavioural and clinical assessment tools, and novel qualitative methods to capture first-person perspectives of children and youth. Dr. Elsabbagh has supported the successful launch of several collaborative research and translational networks in Canada and Europe, including the Transforming Autism Care Consortium (TACC), a Quebec research network supported by the Fonds de recherche du Québec and several community partners. Dr. Elsabbagh is a program director of the Canadian Neurodevelopment Research Training (CanNRT) platform. She is also active in global efforts to improve evidence-based practice in the community and capacity building in low -and middle-income countries. These efforts include CST-Canada, a clinical trials platform for the WHO Caregiver Skills Training (CST) Program, which integrates research, training, and international exchange, expanding access to evidence-informed intervention in the community.