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About Us

In the DREAmS (Disparity Reduction and Equity in Autism Services) Lab, we are a multidisciplinary team of researchers, clinicians, students, and volunteers, and we use a range of health services and clinical informatics research methods, including large data analysis and machine learning approaches with electronic health records, and qualitative and mixed methods approaches. We use a community-engaged and participatory research approach for all of our projects, with input from the Autistic Lived Experience Collaborators (ALEC).

Current projects focus on: 1) the autism ‘diagnostic odyssey’ for girls, 2) mental health services for autistic children and youth, and 3) gastrointestinal (GI) problems that co-occur with autism across the lifespan.

DREAmS Lab Mission Statement

We aim to identify, measure, understand, and reduce disparities in autism diagnosis and services.

To achieve this aim, we strive to:

• Conduct rigorous, innovative, and impactful health services research.
• Conduct research that reflects the needs and priorities of the communities that are impacted by our work.
• Include stakeholders in various stages of our research studies.
• Creatively disseminate our research findings, making them accessible to the communities that are impacted by our work.

DREAmS Lab Core Values

• Collaboration We value a highly collaborative approach — within the lab, with our academic and clinical partners, and with the communities that are impacted by our research. This means fostering a sense of community, being generous with our time and resources, and bringing respect, compassion, and empathy to all our interactions.
• Justice We value justice. This means understanding the broader socio-cultural and historic contexts of our work, providing accommodations to support participation within our research studies, and viewing differences as strengths. This is also reflected in our research focus on health disparities.
• Lifelong Learning We value self-reflection, listening well, and a commitment to personal, professional, and collective growth. This means supporting lab members to develop their research skills and achieve their goals, always being and having a mentor, and seeking to learn about and incorporate diverse perspectives into our work.

To learn more about the DREAmS Lab, please follow us on Instagram and Facebook, or reach out to us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).