Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

International Society For Autism Research News

International Society For Autism Research News SOCIETY PAGE http://www.autism-insar.org We are delighted to share our reflections on the recent Asia Pacific Regional IMFAR meeting, which was the first regional meeting sponsored by INSAR. Historically, IMFAR has been held in North America (US or Canada) or Europe. The plans for sponsoring a regional meeting began in 2013 and came to fruition last November. There was a desire to expand INSAR’s global reach by hosting regional IMFAR meetings in parts of the world where the annual IMFAR is not held. In response to an open invitation for proposals, in 2014, the INSAR Board reviewed several pro- posals from around the world. The first regional IMFAR was held on November 6–8th in Shanghai, China in part- nership with Children’s Hospital of Fudan University, Autism Speaks, China Women’s Development Fund, and the Shanghai Federation of Disability. Yonghao Gui, Vice President of Fudan University and Dean of Shanghai Medical College, and Guoying Huang, President of Children’s Hospital of Fudan University, were honorary chairs of the meeting. The meeting executive chair was Yi Wang, Vice President of Children’s Hospital of Fudan University. We especially want to acknowledge the leadership and efforts of the organizing committee, co-chaired by Yong- Hui Jiang of Duke University, Andy Shih from Autism Speaks, and Hailiang Guo, Director of China Women’s Devel- opment Fund. Past INSAR president Helen Tager-Flusberg and Xiu Xu from Children’s Hospital of Fudan University helped oversee the program committee, which was comprised of representatives from throughout the Asia Pacific and US. The excitement on the opening day was palpable. There were over 700 attendees from more than 30 countries, with approximately 265 people coming from outside China. Over the course of 21 sessions, we heard from 95 speakers. Among the highlights were keynote presentations by Mu-ming Poo, who described the China Brain Pro- ject and its implications for understanding autism, and Matthew State, who provided an overview of research on the genomics and biology of autism. Both professionals and families enjoyed a series of master courses offered by experts in the field. Over 150 parents attended these courses, which were offered to them free of charge. Master courses covered a wide range of topics ranging from screening and early intervention to adolescent and adult serv- ices and supports. These courses were live-streamed with simultaneous translation. Videos of many of the talks will be available via the INSAR website in the future. More detailed information and photos from the meeting can be found at this website: http://www.regionalimfar2015-shanghai.org/weben/# There was certainly a great buzz at the conference and much enthusiasm. Twenty-three media outlets covered the event, including radio, newspaper, and TV. The conference was widely publicized on WeChat, China’s mobile messaging system. During the breaks, scientists from across the globe were sharing ideas and forming new collabo- rations. We are in the process of gathering more concrete information about the impact of the event. If these results are as positive as our impressions of this first regional IMFAR, we hope to hold more such meetings in the future, in partnership with local organizations and in response to regional priorities. This global focus is a vital part of INSAR’s aim to improve the lives of those affected by autism through the highest quality research. Geraldine Dawson, PhD, President Francesca Happe, PhD, Past President International Society for Autism Research Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI: 10.1002/aur.1628 V 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 418 Autism Research 9: 418, 2016 INSAR http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Autism Research Wiley

International Society For Autism Research News

Autism Research , Volume 9 (3) – Mar 1, 2016
Download PDF
1 page

Loading next page...
 
/lp/wiley/international-society-for-autism-research-news-OD4hAm0AB3

References (0)

References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
© 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
ISSN
1939-3792
eISSN
1939-3806
DOI
10.1002/aur.1628
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

SOCIETY PAGE http://www.autism-insar.org We are delighted to share our reflections on the recent Asia Pacific Regional IMFAR meeting, which was the first regional meeting sponsored by INSAR. Historically, IMFAR has been held in North America (US or Canada) or Europe. The plans for sponsoring a regional meeting began in 2013 and came to fruition last November. There was a desire to expand INSAR’s global reach by hosting regional IMFAR meetings in parts of the world where the annual IMFAR is not held. In response to an open invitation for proposals, in 2014, the INSAR Board reviewed several pro- posals from around the world. The first regional IMFAR was held on November 6–8th in Shanghai, China in part- nership with Children’s Hospital of Fudan University, Autism Speaks, China Women’s Development Fund, and the Shanghai Federation of Disability. Yonghao Gui, Vice President of Fudan University and Dean of Shanghai Medical College, and Guoying Huang, President of Children’s Hospital of Fudan University, were honorary chairs of the meeting. The meeting executive chair was Yi Wang, Vice President of Children’s Hospital of Fudan University. We especially want to acknowledge the leadership and efforts of the organizing committee, co-chaired by Yong- Hui Jiang of Duke University, Andy Shih from Autism Speaks, and Hailiang Guo, Director of China Women’s Devel- opment Fund. Past INSAR president Helen Tager-Flusberg and Xiu Xu from Children’s Hospital of Fudan University helped oversee the program committee, which was comprised of representatives from throughout the Asia Pacific and US. The excitement on the opening day was palpable. There were over 700 attendees from more than 30 countries, with approximately 265 people coming from outside China. Over the course of 21 sessions, we heard from 95 speakers. Among the highlights were keynote presentations by Mu-ming Poo, who described the China Brain Pro- ject and its implications for understanding autism, and Matthew State, who provided an overview of research on the genomics and biology of autism. Both professionals and families enjoyed a series of master courses offered by experts in the field. Over 150 parents attended these courses, which were offered to them free of charge. Master courses covered a wide range of topics ranging from screening and early intervention to adolescent and adult serv- ices and supports. These courses were live-streamed with simultaneous translation. Videos of many of the talks will be available via the INSAR website in the future. More detailed information and photos from the meeting can be found at this website: http://www.regionalimfar2015-shanghai.org/weben/# There was certainly a great buzz at the conference and much enthusiasm. Twenty-three media outlets covered the event, including radio, newspaper, and TV. The conference was widely publicized on WeChat, China’s mobile messaging system. During the breaks, scientists from across the globe were sharing ideas and forming new collabo- rations. We are in the process of gathering more concrete information about the impact of the event. If these results are as positive as our impressions of this first regional IMFAR, we hope to hold more such meetings in the future, in partnership with local organizations and in response to regional priorities. This global focus is a vital part of INSAR’s aim to improve the lives of those affected by autism through the highest quality research. Geraldine Dawson, PhD, President Francesca Happe, PhD, Past President International Society for Autism Research Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI: 10.1002/aur.1628 V 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 418 Autism Research 9: 418, 2016 INSAR

Journal

Autism Research – Wiley

Published: Mar 1, 2016

There are no references for this article.