Frank Sharp, M.D., UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute - An internationally renowned clinical neurologist and neuroscientist, Dr. Sharp joined the UC Davis and M.I.N.D. Institute faculty in June 2004. Research in his laboratory focuses on molecular neurobiology, genomics, neural cell injury and cell death and the blood genomics of neurological disease. Prior to his appointment at UC Davis, Dr. Sharp had a distinguished clinical and research career at UC San Diego, UC San Francisco and the University of Cincinnati, making groundbreaking contributions to new fields of study and new insights into brain function and disease. Among these contributions were: first laboratory to show proof of principle for using blood genomics to detect pathological events in the animal and human brain, paved the way for performing PET and fMRI studies in humans, and first to demonstrate that a transcription factor can be used to map active neurons. Dr. Sharp is currently on the editorial boards of several journals, has been a standing member of the AHA Brain grant review committee, and is a permanent member of the NINDS NSDA review Committee.

Doreen Granpeesheh, Ph.D., BCBA, Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Founder, Clinical Director - Dr. Granpeesheh founded the Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD) in 1990, which treats thousands of children. She is a principal member of Thoughtful House Center for Children and First Vice-Chair of the Autism Society of America, and serves on the DAN! Executive Council and the Scientific Advisory Board of USAAA.

Amy Wetherby, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, Center for Autism and Related Disabilities- Florida State University, Laurel Schendel Professor & Executive Director - Dr. Wetherby is the Laurel Schendel Professor in the Department of Communication Disorders at Florida State University. She has had over twenty years of clinical experience in the design and implementation of communication programs for children with autism and severe communication impairments and is a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Dr. Wetherby's research has focused on communicative and cognitive-social aspects of language problems in children with autism, and more recently, on the early identification of children with communication impairments. She has published extensively on these topics and presents regularly at national conventions. She is a co-author of the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales (with Barry Prizant). Dr. Wetherby is the Project Director of the FIRST WORDS Project, funded by a U.S. Department of Education Field-Initiated Research Grant and Model Demonstration Grant on early identification of communication disorders in infants and toddlers. She is also the Project Co-Director (with Juliann Woods) of the Early Social Interaction Project funded by a U.S. Department of Education Model Demonstration Grant. She served on the National Academy of Sciences Committee for Educational Interventions for Children with Autism and is the Executive Director of the Florida State University Center for Autism and Related Disabilities.

Emmanuelle Tognoli, Florida Atlantic University, Research Assistant Professor, Center For Complex Systems

Kenneth A. Bock, M.D., FAAFP, FACN, CNS, Rhinebeck Health Center, Co-founder and Co-director - Kenneth A. Bock, M.D., received his medical degree with Honor in 1979. He is the author of Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma, and Allergies. Dr. Bock’s Healing Program is at the vanguard of the new biomedical approach to the treatment of children affected by autism spectrum disorders.

Tim Buie, M.D., Massachusetts General Hospital, Pediatric Gastroenterologist - is a Pediatric Gastroenterologist on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and Tufts School of Medicine. He works in the Massachusetts General Hospital developmental clinic LADDERS. He has cared for children with ASD for over 15 years.