Nina de Lacy, MD, MBA, a fellow in our UW Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, is one of three investigators selected this year to participate in the Institute of Translational Health Sciences’ KL2 Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Career Development Program. The KL2 program is a rigorous, three-year, interdisciplinary research program that involves intensive mentoring experience in a specific area of study and provides its scholars with 75% protected time to focus on their individual research goals.
 
De Lacy is a child psychiatrist working clinically with children and adults who have genetic syndromes and brain malformations. Her research is in the area of “big data” systems neuroscience, looking at how different regions of the human brain behave when they activate together in large-scale neural networks. This involves applying advanced computational techniques, such as dynamic correlation analysis and machine learning, to functional MRI data from hundreds or thousands of individuals. Her ultimate goal is to uncover mechanisms, biomarkers, and subtypes in autism that could be useful in diagnosis and treatment.
 
Dr. de Lacy came to UW for her residency training in 2011 before entering the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry program. She was attracted to Seattle by the strength of our department and training programs, as well as the UW’s world-leading departments of Applied Mathematics, Genome Sciences, and Biostatistics.
 
“The KL2 award is a very important award in terms of my transition to independent investigator,” said de Lacy. “I’ve been particularly fortunate at the UW in gaining mentorship from so many talented psychiatry and pediatrics faculty, having supportive training directors, and receiving the sponsorship of Drs. Unützer and King.”