UMaine’s Zeph to Serve on National Autism Research, Strategic Planning Workgroup

Contact: Sandra Horne, 581-1236

ORONO – Lucille A. Zeph, director of the University of Maine’s Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies and associate professor of education, has been invited to serve on the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee’s Strategic Planning Workgroup.

The invitation came from Dr. Thomas R. Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health at the National Institutes of Health. The purpose of the workgroup is to provide broad scientific expertise and to make recommendations to the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) regarding a national strategic plan for autism spectrum disorder research.

The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, authorized under the Combating Autism Act of 2006, coordinates autism spectrum disorder research and other efforts within the Department of Health and Human Services and across other federal agencies. Zeph served as a member of the IACC from 2004-2007.

The Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (CCIDS) is Maine’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD). Established in 1992, the UMaine center is part of a national network of 67 UCEDDs sponsored by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The CCIDS mission is to bring together the resources of the university and the community to enhance the quality of life for individuals with disabilities and their families through a broad range of education, research, service, and dissemination activities. More information about CCIDS is available on its website www.ccids.umaine.edu.