News

5th Year grad student, Orla Putnam, led our recent study, published in Neurodiversity, exploring research participation of under-represented groups in autism research. This study drew from interviews with autistic women and non-binary individuals to understand the facilitators and barriers to meaningful participation in autism research studies.  

Members of the Harrop Lab attended the 2025 International Society for Autism Research conference in Seattle. It was a busy conference, with four posters and one panel. Dr. Harrop chaired a panel on late, missed and mis-diagnosis in autism, with 2nd year PhD student, Sonny, leading on of the talks....

Senior, Katie Gowan, successfully defended her Honors thesis. Katie represents our first Nutrition student in the lab who contributed to both SAGA and EAT. Her thesis focused on the relationship between diet diversity and attention to good, using eye tracking. Katie will go on to graduate school to become an...

This spring we said goodbye to our seniors, Jackson, Abbigail, Lizbeth, Bella and Katie. Thank you for all your hard work in the lab and good luck with your next adventures!

Six undergrads from the Harrop Lab presented at the 2025 Undergraduate Research Celebration. Jackson, Amelia, Lucy, Abbigail, Akiah and Arisha did a great job!  

Members of the Harrop Lab attended the 2025 Gatlinburg Conference in San Diego this year. Postdoc, Dr. McFayden, presented data on friendship measures in autism. Lab coordinator, Kim Liles, presented data exploring how food avoidance and approach relate to child characteristics, such as executive functioning and repetitive behaviors. Senior, Katie...

Former research assistant, Amanda Neal (now graduate student at The University of South Alabama), led a study using data from the National Survey of Child Health characterizing parents’ experiences accessing healthcare for their autistic child. Compared to parents of autistic males, parents of autistic females were at higher risk for...

Dr. Harrop was selected as a recipient of the Organization for Autism Research’s Applied Research Grants. Dr. Harrop and her team will study mental health and healthcare experiences of autistic women during perimenopause. This proposal was developed based on a conversation between Dr. Harrop and an autistic woman, who will...

Welcome Lizbeth and Bella, our Spring 2025 HDFS Interns. Bella and Lizbeth will work on SAGA, EAT and other projects in the lab!

The 2024 Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry study led by Dr. Harrop analyzing statewide trends in autism diagnoses over a 20 year period was nominated as one of the Interagency Autism Cooridnating Committee’s top advances in autism research in 2024.