Connie Kasari, Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Distinguished Professor of Human Development & Psychology in the School of Education with a joint appointment in the Department of Psychiatry.  She received her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has been on the faculty at UCLA where she teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses and has been the primary advisor to more than 70 PhD students.  She is a founding member of the Center for Autism Research and Treatment at UCLA. Her research aims to development novel, evidence-tested interventions implemented in community settings.  Recent projects include targeted treatments for early social communication development in at risk infants, toddlers and preschoolers with autism, and peer relationships for school aged children with autism. She leads several large multi-site studies including a network on interventions for minimally verbal school aged children with ASD, and a network that aims to increase equity in access to interventions for children with ASD who are under-represented in research trials.  She is the current president of the International Society of Autism Research.