Updated April 5, 2010

Craig Newschaffer. Download image.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Renowned autism researcher Craig Newschaffer, Ph.D, will deliver the 2010 Glenwood Endowed Lecture at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health.

The free event begins at 11 a.m. Wednesday, April 21 in the Hill University Center Alumni Auditorium, 1400 University Blvd. Held during Autism Awareness Month, the Glenwood Endowed Lecture is hosted in conjunction with UAB's 2010 Neurodevelopment/Simpson-Ramsey Symposium, set for Thursday, April 22.

Newschaffer's lecture "Will epidemiology help us find the causes of autism?" will focus on the evidence-based science that comes from tracking trends in autism prevalence and the challenges to gathering data. Other topics will include public understanding of autism scientific findings and a description of epidemiological approaches to autism that are considered exemplary. Epidemiology is the study of populations in determining the frequency and spread of disease, disability and other factors.

Newschaffer, chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Drexel University School of Public Health in Philadelphia, is a principal investigator on several major autism studies, including a national network that monitors secular trends in autism prevalence. He also is leading a National Institutes of Health-funded project to develop a program for autism epidemiologic research in China.

Newschaffer is an associate editor of the American Journal of Epidemiology and a member of the editorial board of the journal Autism Research. He is a member of the science advisory board of Autism Speaks, a research and advocacy organization. He founded the Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, where he is an adjunct professor.

The Glenwood Endowed Lecture, now in its sixth year, is funded by Glenwood, the autism and behavioral health center of Alabama.
About the UAB School of Public Health

The UAB School of Public Health is a community of scholars and professionals working and teaching in varied arenas of public health with the goal of fostering research and best practices crucial to the health of the United States and its peoples. The school offers more than 20 areas of study and manages dozens of research and community-service centers.