Gregory D. Abowd, DPhil – AAC President & Founder
Dr. Abowd is a Regents’ and Distinguished Professor in the School of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has three teenagers including 2 boys on the Autism Spectrum. He also serves on other boards, including the Marcus Autism Center, Emory Autism Center and State of GA Autism Advisory Council. Dr. Abowd received the 2017 Autism Achievement Award at the annual Autism Conference & Expo of Georgia. This award also represents recognition of the value of the AAC by the Georgia Autism Community. Dr. Abowd has been on the AAC Board of Directors since 2011.
Joseph Cubells, MD, PhD. Board Member since 2011.
Dr. Cubells is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Human Genetics, and of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, at the Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA. His research focuses on indentifying the molecular genetic factors that inform about developmental disorders, including autism, schizophrenia, and major depression. As a Psychiatrist and Clinician, he serves as the Director of Medical and Adult Services at the Emory Autism Center, in Atlanta, were he sees adults on the Autism Spectrum as well as adults with known genetic/chromosomal abnormalities requiring behavioral healthcare. AAC Board Member since 2011.
Celine Saulnier, PhD. Board Member since 2011.
Dr. Saulnier is the Director of Research Operations at the Marcus Autism Center and Associate Professor in the Division of Autism and Related Disorders, Department of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine. She obtained her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Connecticut, after which she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Yale Child Study Center before joining their faculty for nearly a decade. In 2011, Dr. Saulnier relocated to Marcus where she oversees a large-scale clinical research program including diagnostic evaluations of children participating in research. Her research focuses on early detection of risk factors for autism in the first year of life, as well adaptive behavior profiles in ASD. She has written a book, Essentials of Autism Spectrum Disorders Evaluation and Assessment, and is co-author of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Third Edition, the most widely used measure of adaptive functioning worldwide. AAC Board Member since 2011.
Frederick Marcus, PhD. Board Member since 2013.
Dr. Marcus teaches in the Department of Philosophy at Emory University and serves on a number of boards, including The Marcus Foundation, The Marcus Autism Center, Tapestry Public Charter School, and The Israel Democracy Institute. AAC Board Member since 2013.
Lisa Wiggins, PhD. Board Member since 2015.
Dr. Wiggins is an Epidemiologist and Developmental Psychologist with the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She serves as lead clinician of the Developmental Disabilities Branch and oversees all clinical activities on the surveillance and epidemiology teams. AAC Board Member since 2015. Disclaimer: Participation in the AAC Board of Directors is accomplished by Lisa Wiggins in her personal capacity. The opinions expressed in this role are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the United States government.
Dan Crimmins, PhD. Board Member since 2017.
Dr. Crimmins is the Director of the Center for Leadership in Disability & GaLEND Program, as well as a Clinical Professor in the School of Public Health at Georgia State University. He is also a part-time Adjunct Professor in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. He earned his Ph.D. from Binghamton University (SUNY), New York, in Clinical Psychology. Throughout his career, Dr. Crimmins has worked to improve the capacity of organizations to provide evidence-based behavioral and educational interventions for children and adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities, particularly those on the autism spectrum. He is the author or co-author of over 70 peer-reviewed scientific articles and book chapters and presented his scientific findings at more than 200 national and international conferences. He has also been the program director, principal investigator or co-investigator for over 35 grants and contracts. He serves on several boards and councils in Georgia, such as the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (since 2008), the Community Advisory Board to the Morehouse School of Medicine Prevention Research Center (since 2010), the Community Advisory Council Institute on Human Development and Disability at the University of Georgia UCEDD (since 2008), and the Statewide Advisory Committee on Children’s Health/Project LAUNCH Steering Committee in the Georgia Department of Public Health (since 2016). He is an AAC Board Member since 2017.
Lindee Morgan, PhD, CCC-SLP. Board Member since 2017.
Dr. Morgan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Emory University and the Co-Director of the Educational Science Research Core at Marcus Autism Center. She has been a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist for 22 years. Prior to joining Emory, she was an Associate in Research at the Florida State University School of Medicine where she Directed the FSU Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD), a community-based, state-funded technical assistance, outreach, and support program, serving over 4,000 individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Florida’s Panhandle. There, Dr. Morgan supervised direct services to individuals with ASD of all ages, provided hundreds of training opportunities for families, educators, and community providers, and engaged in legislative advocacy on behalf of those with ASD and their families in the State of Florida. She also has extensive experience in conducting treatment research for individuals with ASD across the lifespan and has a particular interest in interventions implemented in school and community settings. Her research has been published in a number of leading journals including Pediatrics, the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. She is an AAC Board Member since 2017.
Cathy Rice, PhD. Board Member from 2011 to 2015, and since 2017.
Dr. Rice is the Director of the Emory Autism Center, Emory University, Atlanta. She is an AAC Board Member since 2017.
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