CIRCA Affiliates include academics, researchers, policy makers, and members of community and provincial resource organizations who wish to contribute to interdisciplinary, collaborative work in the area of autism spectrum disorders. Affiliates collaborate with one another in research projects and grant applications; conduct basic or applied research related to autism; participate in CIRCA-sponsored workshops, seminars, conferences, lectures, courses, etc.; and/or participate in capacity-building efforts in BC.
Jim Anderson, PhD
Department of Language & Literacy Education, UBC
Dr. Anderson is a Professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia. His primary areas of interest related to autism are working with families and early reading & writing.
Anthony Bailey, MBBS, DCH, MRCPsych, FRCPsych
Dr. Bailey is Professor and Chair of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC. His research has investigated the neurobiological basis of autistic disorders, using genetic, neuropathological and neuroimaging approaches. His primary area of expertise is in supporting academically able adolescents and young adults with ASD who experience mental health and social challenges.
Lauren Binnendyk, PhD, BCBA-D
Westcoast Feeding and Behaviour Specialists
Dr. Binnendyk is the Director of Westcoast Feeding and Behaviour Specialists, Inc., a group that provides specialized supports to individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities who experience feeding disorders and/or problem behaviours. Her research interests focus on the amelioration of feeding problems.
Paola Colozzo, PhD, Speech-Language Pathology (C)
Dr. Colozzo is an Assistant Professor in the School of Audiology & Speech Sciences at the University of British Columbia. Her primary areas of interest include language and communication in autism and evidence-based interventions to foster language and communication development.
Jessica de Villiers, PhD
Dr. de Villiers is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at UBC. Her primary area of interest related to autism is pragmatic language development in individuals with Asperger Syndrome.
Miriam Elfert, PhD, BCBA-D
Dr. Elfert teaches courses in the Behaviour Intervention and Disability and Applied Behaviour Analysis (DABA) programs at Douglas College. Her research interests are in the areas of support groups for fathers of individuals with autism and early behavioural intervention.
Brenda Fossett, PhD, BCBA-D
Dr. Fossett is an Instructor in the Applied Behaviour Analysis-Autism program at Capilano University. Her research interests are in the areas of positive behaviour support, assistive technology, and educational interventions for deaf children with developmental disabilities.
Daniel Goldowitz, PhD
Dr. Goldowitz is a Canada Research Chair in the Department of Medical Genetics and a Senior Scientist in the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics at UBC. He is also the Scientific Director of NeuroDevNet, the first trans-Canada initiative dedicated to studying autism spectrum disorder, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, and cerebral palsy from both basic and clinical perspectives.
Daniel Goldowitz, PhD
Dr. Goldowitz is a Canada Research Chair in the Department of Medical Genetics and a Senior Scientist in the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics at UBC. He is also the Scientific Director of NeuroDevNet, the first trans-Canada initiative dedicated to studying autism spectrum disorder, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, and cerebral palsy from both basic and clinical perspectives.
Dr. Stephanie Jull, PhD, BCBA-D
Dr. Jull is the Director of Programming at the Canucks Autism Network, and agency that provides innovative sports, recreational, social, and arts programs for individuals and families living with autism. Her research focuses on teaching community recreation staff to provide high-quality, systematic instruction to individuals with autism, and supporting teens and young adults in employment settings.
Connor M Kerns, PhD
Dr. Kerns is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia. Her research focuses on the etiology, assessment and psychosocial treatment of anxiety and stress-related disorders, including post-traumatic stress, in children and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
M.E. Suzanne Lewis, MD, FRCPC, FCCMG
Dr. Lewis is a Clinical Professor at the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia and BC Children’s & Women’s Health Centre; and a Senior Clinician Scientist for the BC Child & Family Research Institute. Her primary area of interest includes genotype/phenotype correlations underlying susceptibility to the autism spectrum disorders.
Joe Lucyshyn, PhD
Department of Educational & Counselling Psychology, and Special Education, UBC
Joe Lucyshyn is an Associate Professor in the Department of ECPS at UBC. He is a board-certified Behaviour Analyst and teaches courses on positive behaviour support, supporting students with behaviour disorders, and single subject research design at UBC. His research is funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and aims to examine the internal, external, and social validity of a positive behaviour support approach with families of children with autism/developmental disabilities and severe problem behaviour.
Stefka Marinova-Todd, PhD
Speech-Language Pathology, UBC Billingualism Lab
Dr. Marinova-Todd is an Assistant Professor at the School of Audiology and Speech Sciences at UBC. Her current research is focused on the language and cognitive abilities of both typically-developing children and children with ASD.
William T. McKee, PhD
Department of Educational & Counselling Psychology, and Special Education, UBC
Dr. McKee is an Assistant Professor in the Department of ECPS at UBC. His primary areas of interest related to autism include assessment for intervention, screening, and IEP and program planning.
Mari Pighini, PhD
Institute for Early Childhood Education and Research
Dr. Pighini is a Lecturer in early childhood/special needs education and is also an MEd cohort advisor with the Professional Development & Community Engagement in UBC’s Faculty of Education. She is also the Research Coordinator of the Including All Children and Families-Expanding Partnerships project that focuses on her primary area of interest – the experiences of families with children with developmental delays and/or disabilities.
Georgina Robinson, PhD
Dr. Robinson is the Director of the Provincial Outreach Program for Autism and Related Disorders. Her primary areas of interest related to autism include school-age children and adolescents; stress, coping and anxiety; identification and assessment; effective consultation; and effective school-based interventions.
Tim Stainton, MSW, PhD
Centre for Inclusion and Citizenship
Dr. Stainton is Professor and Director of the UBC School of Social Work and Director of the Centre for Inclusion and Citizenship. His main research interests are in intellectual disability policy and programmes, as well as history, theory, and ethics as they relate to intellectual disability.
Richard Stock, PhD, BCBA-D
ABA-Autism, Capilano University
Dr. Stock is Program Coordinator of the Applied Behaviour Analysis-Autism program at Capilano University. His research interests are in the areas of positive behaviour support, dissemination and inter-disciplinary collaboration, and the application of ABA to education and environmental sustainability.
Jim Tanaka, PhD
Department of Psychology, University of Victoria
Dr. Tanaka is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Victoria. His primary interest related to autism is in the area of face recognition and intervention.
Lori Woods, RN, BSN, MEd
Ms. Woods Is the Coordinator of the Behavioural Interventionist, Classroom, and Community Support Program and the Disability and ABA Program at Douglas College. Her primary area of interest related to autism is family and practitioner education.
Anat Zaidman-Zait, PhD
Human Early Learning Partnership, UBC
Dr. Zaidman-Zait is an Assistant Professor in the Department of School Counseling and Special Education at Tel-Aviv University and a member of the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) research network at UBC. Her research focuses on parental stress and coping processes among parents of children with autism and other disabilities.
In Memoriam
Judith Johnston, PhD
School of Audiology & Speech Sciences
Dr. Johnston was a Professor Emerita at the School of Audiology & Speech Sciences at the University of British Columbia. Her primary area of interest related to autism was language development. Please see her In Memoriam page.