Newswise — Christopher Lopata, PsyD, and Marcus Thomeer, PhD, assistant professors in the Department of Education, will co-direct the IAR. Lopata and Thomeer work with a team of researchers including Susan Putnam, PhD, associate professor of psychology; Robert E. Nida, PhD, associate professor of education; Martin Volker, PhD, and Gloria Lee, PhD, from the University at Buffalo-SUNY; and Stephen Anderson, PhD, and Jennifer Toomey, PhD, from Summit Educational Resources; to conduct a broad range of basic and applied (treatment) studies for children with autism spectrum disorders.
“The institute was created to continue leading-edge research on autism spectrum disorders at the college,” said Scott A. Chadwick, PhD, vice president for academic affairs. “The IAR provides our researchers and affiliated faculty the facilities to study and treat autism spectrum disorders in a collaborative manner.”
The research team has compiled an extensive research database, and in addition to many publications in top-tier scientific journals, their research has been featured at both state and national conferences. The researchers have been the recipients of numerous research grants totaling approximately $2.2 million, including a current three-year $1.2 million federal grant from the U. S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences to assess a comprehensive school-based intervention for children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders.
“Over the past seven years at Canisius, the research team has conducted multiple studies of our manualized summer social development treatment program (Connections) for children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders,” said Thomeer. Included in this research are three randomized clinical trials that have validated the Connections program. Additionally, the research team is in the final year of a three-year grant funded study evaluating a manualized social skills curriculum for lower-functioning children with autism spectrum disorders.
“Canisius students, along with students from a large number of universities and colleges, gain high-level research and clinical experience as part of this research team,” added Lopata. “In many cases, the students have been compensated through foundation and federal grants.”
As co-directors, Lopata and Thomeer seek to establish IAR as a nationally-recognized autism research center. In pursuit of this goal, they will continue ongoing studies with the above-mentioned research team, as well as refine and develop new avenues for research. “We look forward to our continued collaboration with Summit, a local non-profit community agency that is recognized for its excellence in autism assessment and diagnosis and use of evidence-based interventions in both its school and community programs,” added Lopata and Thomeer.
Canisius College is one of 28 Jesuit colleges in the nation and the premier private college in Western New York. Canisius prepares leaders – intelligent, caring, faithful individuals – able to pursue and promote excellence in their professions, their communities and their service to humanity.
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