New Jersey continues to step up!
by Kathy
On Monday night I attended a meeting of the New Jersey Governor’s Council on Medical Research and Treatment for Autism. The director reviewed the Basic Science and Clinical Research grant initiative, and I was delighted to learn that our own Patricia Wright, National Director of Autism Services at Easter Seals, was one of the 13 panelists who had reviewed the proposals.
Patricia’s involvement was no surprise — she is very well qualified! I was just so pleased to see her name and the Easter Seals affiliation among the national “big cheeses” in autism research. Other reviewers came from the University of California-Davis, Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Pennsylvania, Autism Speaks, the Welcome Centre for Human Genetics, the University of Michigan, New York University’s Langone Medical Center, Vanderbilt University, and the Kennedy Krieger Institute, just to name a few!
At Monday night’s meeting, the director discussed the review and rating process. After that, the council voted to proceed with the recommendations of the review panelists and the Study Section panel. I’d say New Jersey is definitely stepping into the mix, doing their best to fund state initiatives in research and service delivery. I don’t know of any other state that has dedicated so much money on a state level.
And hey, it was so lovely to virtually cross paths with my colleague Patricia Wright at a late night meeting in New Jersey. All the time I was there, hearing about her participation in reviewing those proposals, she was enjoying the weather back at Easter Seals headquarters in snowy Chicago!