News

Dr. Harrop recently had an article published in Autism Research on the short-term trajectories of RRBs in minimally-verbal autistic children. The study stems from Dr. Harrop’s postdoctoral research at UCLA, with Dr. Connie Kasari. The profile of RRBs in this sample was different from previous samples Dr. Harrop has studied, with more verbal RRBs. Trajectories...

In May 2021, we said goodbye to two of our undergraduate Ras, Lunar and Brianna. Both are planning for graduate school: Brianna is currently in Paris for her Masters in Global Public Health. Thank you for all you have done in the lab, especially during COVID times. 

Dr. Harrop presented her research on sex differences in autism at the Eastern AHEC (Area Health Education Center) autism conference in May 2021. Dr. Harrop’s talk was attended by a range of health professionals, including speech therapists, social workers, and psychologists.  

Dr. Harrop, together with co-PI Dr. Brenna Maddox (TEACCH), were recently awarded a pilot award from the Foundation of Hope for their project “Biobehavioral Markers of Suicide Risk in Female Adolescents on the Autism Spectrum.” In this study, Drs. Harrop and Maddox will examine how two biomarkers, cortisol and heart rate...

Jessie led a graduate student symposium at the 2021 Gatlinburg Conference, chaired by Dr. Brian Boyd, that featured three presentations on the psychological, social, and economic impacts of COVID-19 on families and their children with disabilities. The symposium aimed to understand how best to support families and their children with NDDs/GDs during current...

Dr. Harrop was part of a team of authors, led by Jim Bodfish (Vanderbilt University) and Brian Boyd (Kansas University), that recently published the article “Measuring the Functional Impact of Behavioral Inflexibility in Children with Autism Using the Behavioral Inflexibility Scale: Clinical Interview (BIS-CI)” in the Journal for Autism and Developmental Disorders. The...

Dr. Harrop, along with her co-authors Dr. Kimberly Carpenter (Duke), Dr. Vanessa Hus Bal (Rutgers), and Dr. Alycia Halladay (Autism Science Foundation), discussed their recent paper “A lost generation? The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on early career ASD researchers” during the Autism Science Foundation weekly podcast.

Orla and two other SPHS doctoral students had their project proposal funded through the UNC Graduate School’s Leadership Development Scholars Program. In Spring 2021, they will facilitate group readings and discussions with graduate students and faculty through their program. 

Second-year SPHS PhD student, Orla Putnam, has been selected to be an NC-LEND trainee this academic year, learning more about interdisciplinary work in developmental disabilities through the CIDD! 

Dr. Harrop was recently interviewed by Spectrum News about our experience with online data fraud and our Letter to the Editor “Big Data, Big Problem?” The Q&A detailed what happened with our online study, our decision to document the problem, and steps to safeguard against this in the future. The full article...