Welcoming a World-renowned Neuroscientist

Dear Colleagues,

The University of Missouri was privileged to recently welcome Dr. Kelsey Martin to our campus. Dr. Martin is a world-renowned neuroscientist who studies the biologic basis of memory. She was a student of Nobel Prize winner Eric Kandel and is a member of the prestigious National Academy of Medicine and National Association of Academies of Science.

Dr. Martin leads the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) and the Simons Foundation Neuroscience Collaborations. The Simons Foundation supports high impact science internationally through its extramural research program and has its own intramural research programs at their headquarters in New York City.

I asked Dr. Martin to come to Missouri to visit our Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health building and the Thompson Center for Autism & Neurodevelopment. I was very excited when she accepted the invitation from myself, Dr. Steve Sheinkopf, the executive director of the Thompson Center, and Dr. Dave Arnold, the executive director of the NextGen Precision Health initiative.

Dr. Kelsey Martin gave talks at both the NextGen Precision Health Discovery Series in the Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health building and at the annual Thompson Center conference held in St. Charles. She covered a number of key topics including both genetic and environmental influences on autism and research tactics the Simons Foundation is pursuing.

We believe the NextGen Precision Health initiative and the Thompson Center for Autism & Neurodevelopment are on the frontlines for tackling difficult scientific questions related to autism and other neurologic conditions. We have world-class clinicians, scientists and educators who are asking fundamental questions about autism while at the same time helping patients and families affected by autism.

Dr. Martin was very impressed with all the activities happening in the field of autism at MU and in the Thompson Center and I know her visit will spark a number of new collaborations and opportunities with the Simons Foundation. Here, Dr. Dave Arnold explains the collaborative research taking place through the NextGen Precision Health initiative.

Great universities are known in large part by their areas of focus in which they have achieved national recognition as a thought leader and change agent. For MU, one of these areas is the Thompson Center for Autism & Neurodevelopment, which recently hosted its annual conference.

In attendance were our partners at Washington University School of Medicine, as well as other clinicians and researchers from around the country and internationally, including Yale, University of California, Los Angeles, Brown, Stanford, Cornell, our sister Thompson Center in southern California at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County, and the University of Alberta.

The Thompson Center annual conference staff — The Thompson Center annual conference was attended by more than 400 health care professionals and advocates, as well as medical companies focused on autism. Pictured, from left to right, standing, are Cortney Fish, Louis Nevins, Jessica Yager, Dr. Steve Sheinkopf, Abby Powell, myself, Brett Slaughter and Megan Cook. Front row, seated: Monique Gardner, Marie Heuer and Cameron Burton. Thank you for coordinating such an impressive event.

Moreover, trainees had the opportunity to present their scientific work, with representation from both Mizzou and other institutions. The Thompson Center Autism Conference, now in its 18th year, has become a major national conference which is advancing our knowledge about autism and our ability to educate and care for patients and families. With the Thompson Center, MU is a national leader in this field, and we should be very proud of that.

As always, I would like to acknowledge the Thompson family and the Thompson Foundation for Autism & Neurodevelopment that has generously helped support these activities. Bill and Nancy Thompson are great friends and supporters of MU and Bill is a proud alumnus. We could not have come this far as a national leader in the field without their help.

Sincerely,