Congratulations to the six trainees who recently received funding from the Ventura Endowed Fellowship for Autism Research to support their training and education. The ultimate goal of this philanthropic fund is to increase our clinical capacity for the diagnosis and treatment of autism. Three of our trainees used the award to attend the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) in May of 2024. At INSAR, Karís Casagrande, PhD, a child clinical psychology doctoral student, presented her work to advance support for community providers caring for individuals with autism and other neurodevelopmental disabilities through Project ECHO. Postdoctoral Fellow Angela Dahiya-Singhi, PhD, who is also part of the ECHO Autism Washington INCLUDE collaborative, presented on novel telehealth methods to reduce barriers to care. Daina Tagavi, PhD, presented on her current grant and learned about autism intervention research in public schools, mechanisms of intervention effectiveness, patient reported outcome measurement, and telehealth services for autism. Postdoctoral Scholar Vardan Arutiunian, PhD, and Acting Assistant Professor Hannah Rea, PhD, are using the funds to improve their autism diagnostic training. Shawna Attar, a child clinical psychology doctoral student, will use the funds to improve her knowledge and skills in working with refugee and immigrant communities with emerging English proficiency for both clinical and research purposes.

Thank you to Jennifer Gerdts, PhD, Jill Locke, PhD, Fred Shic, PhD, and Sara Jane Webb, PhD, for reviewing applications. For more information about the Ventura Endowed Fellowship for Autism Research please contact David Chow (chowd@uw.edu) Director for Philanthropy for UW Medicine Advancement.