Simons Center Colloquium and Lunch Series
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Sex, gender, and autism: From clinical to basic sciencesMeng-Chuan Lai, M.D., Ph.D. Staff Psychiatrist and Clinician Scientist, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (Canada); Associate Professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, and Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto (Canada) Date: 09/14/2022 |
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The Marmoset Brain Mapping and Marmoset Brain Connectome Projects: Understanding the Anatomical and Functional Organization of the Primate BrainAfonso C. Silva, Ph.D., Endowed Chair Professor of Translational Neuroimaging, Neurobiology, Department of Neurobiology, Center for Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Brain Institute Date: 02/16/2022 |
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Probing the cortical circuits that prevent sensory overloadAlex Major, Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Earl Miller Laboratory, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, MIT Date: 02/11/2022 |
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Understanding functional connectivity in the mammalian brainAlan Jasanoff, Ph.D., Professor, Biological Engineering, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Nuclear Science and Engineering; Associate Investigator, McGovern Institute; Director, Center for Neurobiological Engineering Date: 11/19/2021 |
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Minding our P’s and Q’s: Questions in human genetics about a CNV region and brain-based traitsLauren Weiss, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco Date: 11/10/2021 |
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Enhanced Rationality in Autism Spectrum DisorderJohn Gabrieli, Ph.D., Grover Hermann Professor, Health Sciences and Technology; Professor, Brain and Cognitive Sciences; Investigator, McGovern Institute; Director, Athinoula A. Martinos Imaging Center; Director, MIT Integrated Learning Initiative; Core Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science Date: 10/15/2021 |
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Timing matters: Genes, brains, and cognition in Williams syndromeBarbara Landau, Ph.D., Dick and Lydia Todd Professor, Department of Cognitive Science, Johns Hopkins University Date: 10/06/2021 |
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Loopholes, a Window into Value Alignment and the Learning of MeaningSophie Bridgers, Ph.D., Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, MIT BCS Early Childhood Cognition Lab (PI: Laura Schulz) and Harvard Computation, Cognition, and Development Lab (PI: Tomer Ullman) Date: 09/24/2021 |
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The role of social cognition in … social cognitionJoshua Hartshorne, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Boston College Date: 09/17/2021 |
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Prediction in AutismPawan Sinha, Ph.D., Professor of Vision and Computational Neuroscience, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT Date: 04/23/2021 |
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Mapping Emotions: Discovering structure in mesoscale electrical brain recordingsKafui Dzirasa, M.D., Ph.D., K. Ranga Rama Krishnan Endowed Associate Professor, Duke University Medical Center Date: 04/17/2021 |
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Modeling Neurodevelopmental Disorders Using Human iPSC-derived Brain OrganoidsXuyu Qian, Ph.D., Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Christopher Walsh Laboratory, Harvard University Date: 03/26/2021 |
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Base Editing and Prime Editing: Genome Editing Without Double-Strand BreaksDavid Liu, Ph.D., Richard Merkin Professor and Director of the Merkin Institute of Transformative Technologies in Healthcare; Core Institute Member and Vice-Chair of the Faculty, Broad Institute; Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor of the Natural Sciences, and Professor of Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Harvard University; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Date: 03/17/2021 |
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Early emergence and later development of face, scene, and object regions revealed by natural visionFrederik Kamps, Ph.D., Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Rebecca Saxe Laboratory, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT Date: 02/26/2021 |
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Context dependence in social decision-makingMina Cikara, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Harvard University Date: 02/17/2021 |
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Socially Assistive Robotics as a Path to Accessible Personalized ASD Therapy SupportMaja J. Matarić, Ph.D., Chan Soon-Shiong Distinguished Professor of Computer Science, Neuroscience, and Pediatrics; Interim Vice President of Research; Founding Director, USC Robotics and Autonomous Systems Center; Director, USC Robotics Research Lab, University of Southern California Date: 12/9/2020 |
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One brain, many genomes: somatic mutation and genomic diversity in human brainChristopher A. Walsh, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of Genetics and Genomics, Boston Children’s Hospital, Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology, Harvard Medical School Date: 11/18/2020 |
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Representation of spatial hypotheses in mouse retrosplenial cortexJakob Voigts, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Mark Harnett Laboratory, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT Date: 11/13/2020 |
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The computational psychiatry of autism: perception, prediction and learningRebecca Lawson, Ph.D., Lecturer, Principal Investigator, University of Cambridge, UK Date: 11/04/2020 |
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The Burden of Wake and the Reasons for SleepChiara Cirelli, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison Date: 10/14/2020 |
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Exploring Enhanced Rationality in Individuals with Autism Spectrum DisorderLiron Rozenkrantz, Ph.D., Simons Fellow, John Gabrieli Laboratory, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT Date: 10/09/2020 |
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The integration of parvelbumin and somatostatin interneurons into cortical networks: both nature and nurtureGordon Fishell, Ph.D., Professor of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School; Broad Institute Member, the Stanley Center at the Broad Date: 09/30/2020 |
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Exploring Temporal Expectation in MarmosetsHiroki Sugihara, Ph.D., Research Scientist, Mriganka Sur Laboratory, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT Date: 09/25/2020 |
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Interneuron dysfunction in the fragile X mouse model of autismCarlos Portera-Cailliau, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Neurology & Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles Date: 09/16/2020 |
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A quantitative description of natural and induced marmoset behaviorWilliam Menegas, Ph.D., Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Guoping Feng Laboratory, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT Date: 05/08/2020 |
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Modeling ASD genetics in C. elegansPaul Sternberg, Ph.D., Bren Professor of Biology, Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology Date: 04/29/2020 |
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Shank3 protein: roles in synaptic plasticity and in autism spectrum disorderMenglong Zeng, Ph.D., Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT Date: 04/03/2020 |
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Sodium channel dysfunction in neurodevelopmental disordersKevin Bender, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco Date: 02/26/2020 |
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Sensitive periods in human development: A case study of early psychosocial deprivationCharles Nelson, Ph.D., Professor of Pediatrics, Boston Children’s Hospital; Director of Research, Developmental Medicine Center Date: 02/12/2020 |
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Understanding the neural basis of social attachmentDevanand Manoli, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Weill Institute for Neuroscience, Center for Integrative Neuroscience, Kavli Institute for Fundamental Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco Date: 11/13/2019 |
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Advances in Early Detection of Autism Spectrum DisorderSally Ozonoff, Ph.D., Endowed Professor of Psychiatry and Vice Chair for Research, University of California Davis Date: 10/09/2019 |
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Cooperative breeding and the evolution of human hypersociality – Insights from marmosetsJudith Burkart, Ph.D., University of Zurich, Department of Anthropology Date: 10/02/2019 |
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Autism From Generation to GenerationAlison Singer, President, Autism Science Foundation Date: 09/18/2019 |
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Arc as a master regulator of neuronal plasticity: signaling protein or retroviral-like capsidClive R. Bramham, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Head of Neuroscience, Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, Norway Date: 04/22/2019 |
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Look me in the eyes – or not?Nouchine Hadjikhani, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Radiology, Harvard Medical School Date: 04/17/2019 |
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Early Language Acquisition and the Social Brain: An Inflection Point for the Brain’s Human Language NetworkPatricia K. Kuhl, Ph.D., Professor and Co-Director, Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences and Department of Speech and hearing Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle Washington. Date: 03/13/2019 |
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A show and tell about ♫ (sound bite): Autism, Interdependence and ReciprocityPresenters: Date: 12/05/2018 |
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Loss of axonal function in maternal immune activation models of autism spectrum disordersJohn Huguenard, Ph.D., Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Neurosurgery, and Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University School of Medicine. Date: 10/10/2018 |
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Integrative Epigenomic Analyses Support the Early Developmental Origin of Autism Spectrum DisordersAlika Maunakea, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Epigenomics Research Program, Department of Native Hawaiian Health, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai’i, Mānoa. Date: 09/26/2018 |
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Social Transmission of StressJaideep Bains, Ph.D., Professor, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary. Date: 09/12/2018 |
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Transcriptional and Epigenetic Mechanisms of DepressionEric J. Nestler, M.D., Ph.D., Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience; Director, Friedman Brain Institute; Dean for Academic and Scientific Affairs, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Date: 05/16/2018 |
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Microglia and synapses: partners in experience-dependent plasticityAnia Majewska, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester. Date: 04/18/2018 |
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The Neurobiology of Helping: Lessons from Order RodentiaPeggy Mason, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Neurobiology, University of Chicago. Date: 03/28/2018 |
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Development of Targeted Therapeutics for Autism Spectrum DisordersRandall L. Carpenter, M.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Rett Syndrome Research Trust; Research Affiliate, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory. Date: 03/21/2018 |
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From compost to the clinic: using C. elegans to study psychiatric disordersJoshua Kaplan, Ph.D.,Professor of Neurobiology, MGH/Harvard Medical School. Date: 02/21/2018 |
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How instructions, expectations, and conditioning modulate pain and aversive learningLauren Atlas, Ph.D., Clinical Investigator / Section Chief, National Institutes of Health (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes on Drug Abuse). Date: 01/24/2018 |
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Exploring Language Phenotypes in Autism Spectrum DisorderHelen Tager-Flusberg, Ph.D., Professor, Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University. Date: 11/08/17 |
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Visual attention as a window into understanding brain development in autism and fragile X syndromeSusan M. Rivera, Ph.D., Professor, University of California, Davis. Department of Psychology and the MIND Institute. Date: 10/25/2017 |
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Tackling the genetic and synaptic heterogeneity in autism from risk to resilienceThomas Bourgeron, Ph.D., Professor, University Paris Diderot / Institut Pasteur. Date: 09/27/2017 |
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Our Dynamic Microbiomes and the BrainRob Knight, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Pediatrics and Department of Computer Science, Director for the Center for Microbiome Innovation, University of California, San Diego. Date: 09/13/2017 |
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Autism in Tuberous Sclerosis: From Circuits to TreatmentsMustafa Sahin, M.D., Ph.D., Rosamund Stone Zander Chair; Director, Translational Neuroscience Center at Boston Children’s Hospital; Professor of Neurology Harvard Medical School. Date: 05/10/2017 |
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Out with the old and in with the new – the role of circular RNAs in psychiatric disordersNikolaos Mellios, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosciences, University of New Mexico. Date: 04/26/2017 |
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Changes in inhibitory/excitatory connectivity and neural network dynamics in a model of autismPeyman Golshani, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA. Date: 04/12/2017 |
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Imaging Infant Brain Development in AutismJoseph Piven, M.D., Thomas E. Castelloe Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina. Date: 3/22/2017 |
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Toward an Inflammation-Related Subtype of Autism Spectrum DisorderChristopher J. McDougle, M.D., Director, Lurie Center for Autism; Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, MGH and MassGeneral Hospital for Children; Nancy Lurie Marks Professor in the Field of Autism, Harvard Medical School. Date: 2/8/2017 |
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Genetic influences on ASD across the frequency spectrumBen Neale, Ph.D., Assistant in Genetics, Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital; Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School; Associate Member, Stanley Center for Psychiatric Disease, Broad Institute. Date: 11/18/2015 |
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Towards a Transformative, Translational Developmental Neuroscience of AutismsKevin Pelphrey, Ph.D., Harris Professor in the Child Study Center and Professor of Psychology, Yale University. Date: 11/4/2015 |
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Altered Astrocyte Function in a Murine Model of Rett SyndromeMichelle Olsen, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology. Date: 4/15/2015 |
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Diverse BrainsMorton Ann Gernsbacher, Ph.D., Vilas Professor and Sir Frederic Bartlett Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Date: 3/04/2015 |
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Synaptic alterations in murine models of Rett syndromeTommaso Pizzorusso, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Neurophysiology, University of Florence and CNR Institute of Neuroscience. Date: 2/18/2015 |
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Understanding Brain Function: Insights from Genetic and Epigenetic Analysis of CNS Cell TypesNathaniel Heintz, Ph.D., Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, James and Marilyn Simons Professor, Head-Laboratory of Molecular Biology, The Rockefeller University. Date: 2/04/2015 |
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The Clinical Neuroscience of Social Brain Development in ASDJames McPartland, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Child Psychiatry and Psychology, Director, Yale Developmental Disabilities Clinic, Yale Child Study Center. Date: 1/15/2015 |
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Genomics of Neurodevelopmental DiseasesGuy Rouleau, M.D., Ph.D., FRCPC, OQ, Director, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital. Date: 12/3/2014 |
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Developing targeted interventions for autism spectrum disordersSusan Faja, Ph.D., Visiting Scientist, Boston Children’s Hospital. Date: 11/5/2014 |
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Reliability of Sensory-Evoked Activity in AutismDavid Heeger, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology and Neural Science, New York University. Date: 10/22/2014 |
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Storming the Ivory Tower: Why autism interventions don’t work as they should in the community and what to do about itDavid Mandell, Sc.D., Director, Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research; Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Date: 9/10/2014 |
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A probiotic therapy for Autism Spectrum Disorders?Sarkis Mazmanian, Ph.D., Professor of Biology and Biological Sciences, California Institute of Technology. Date: 6/4/2014 |
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A Cognitive Neuroscience approach to the early identification of autismCharles Nelson, M.D., Research Director, Division of Developmental Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital. Date: 3/19/2014 |
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Mapping the substructures of common affinities for ASD population to create tools for intellectual and emotional growthRon Suskind, Senior Fellow, Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University. Date: 3/12/2014 |
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Resting state and event related electroencephalography as biomarkers of learning and cognitive ability in young children with ASD: Can we parse the heterogeneity?Shafali Spurling Jeste, M.D. Assistant Professor in Psychiatry and Neurology Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior Director, Electrophysiology Core UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment, UCLA. Date: 12/23/2013 |
Simons Center Lunch Series
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Using simultaneous EEG-fMRI to characterize human face processing in space and time
Elizabeth Norton, Ph.D., 6/12/2015 |
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Autism as a disorder of prediction: Empirical support for a new hypothesis Margaret Kjelgaard, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, 5/1/2015 |
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Fiber-based probes for long term interrogation of neural circuits
Ulrich Froriep, Ph.D., 1/23/2015 |
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Functional circuit mapping of the anxious state: from optogenetics to CLARITY and eTANGO Sung-Yon Kim, Ph.D., 9/19/2014 |
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Social network software to assist people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Henry Lieberman, Ph.D., Principal Research Scientist, MIT Media Laboratory |
Special Events
Special Seminars
Helping Different Kinds of Minds Succeed, Temple Grandin, Ph.D., March 16, 2015
Inaugural Event, April 11, 2012
Poster Sessions
2014 Summer UROP Poster Session, August 8, 2014
2013 SCSB Poster Session and Luncheon, November 22, 2013
2013 Summer UROP Poster Session, August 9, 2013
2012 SCSB Poster Session and Luncheon, October 26, 2012
2012 Summer UROP Poster Session and Luncheon, August 3, 2012
Simons Center Workshops
2014
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The Social Brain: New Opportunities for Discovery and Technological Development
Workshop opening remarks, overview of the Simons Center |
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Simons Center Annual Workshop 2014: Autism Spectrum Disorder: Across The Spectrum
Sarah Spence, M.D., 9/5/2014 |
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Phenotype First?
Isaac S. Kohane, M.D., Ph.D., 9/5/2014 |
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Using Multimodal Human Neuroimaging to Understand The Social Brain
Elizabeth Norton, Ph.D., 9/5/2014 |
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The Social Brain: New Opportunities for Discovery and Technological Development
Workshop open discussion, 9/5/2014 |
2013
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The neural architecture of language and executive functions in adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Evelina Fedorenko, Ph.D., 9/4/2013 |
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Tools for scalable 3-D brain activity mapping in autism models
Jorg Scholvin, PhD, Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Synthetic Neurobiology Group, MIT, 9/4/2013 |
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Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Vision of Where We can Go Together
Leonard Rappaport, M.D., M.S. – Chief, Division of Developmental Medicine Boston Children’s Hospital, Mary Deming Scott Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, 9/4/2013 |
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How Do We Study ALL Autisms Using the By-Products of Healthcare Delivery?
Isaac Kohane, M.D., Ph.D., 9/4/2013 |
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Panel Discussion: Technologies for Understanding the Brain
Alan Jasanoff, Ph.D. – Department of Biological Engineering, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, & Center for Neurobiological Engineering, MIT Guoping Feng, Ph.D. – Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences & McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT Edward Boyden, Ph.D. – Synthetic Neurobiology Group, Media Lab, Center for Neurobiological Engineering, Departments of Biological Engineering & Brain and Cognitive Science, MIT, 9/4/2013 |
2012
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Simons Center Inaugural Workshop
Multiple speakers, February 24, 2012 |