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Thomas Burbacher,
PhD
Thomas
Burbacher is a Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health
Sciences Research Affiliate with the Center on Human Development
and Disability Director, Infant Primate Research Laboratory, at
the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. He is currently investigating
changes in brain development and function caused by prenatal exposure
to neuroactive substances. His studies in nonhuman primate models
are yielding information on the long-term effects of prenatal exposure
to methylmercury, a widespread environmental contaminant, and the
effects of prenatal exposure to methanol, which is under consideration
as an alternative motor fuel. In-utero exposure to methylmercury
has been linked to mental retardation, sensory disturbances such
as blindness and deafness, and significant delays in motor development.
Burbacher has been studying the same group of macaque monkeys from
birth to 16 years of age to evaluate the immediate and long-term
effects of in-utero methylmercury exposure on physical development,
cognitive abilities, and sensory functioning. Data from Burbacher's
research program are used to help formulate policies aimed at the
protection of human populations from levels of exposure to environmental
contaminants such as methylmercury and methanol that are associated
with adverse health effects and developmental disabilities.
Stanley Greenspan,
MD
Dr.
Greenspan is a practicing Child and Adult Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst,
a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Pediatrics,
at the George Washington University Medical School, the Supervising
Child Psychoanalyst with the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute,
the Chair of the Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and
Learning Disorders (ICDL), and Co-Chair of the Council on Human
Development. He is a Researcher on the prevention and treatment
of emotional and developmental disorders in infants and children.
He also served as a founder and president (1975-84) of ZERO TO THREE:
National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families and as the Chairman
of the Diagnostic Classification Committee, ZERO TO THREE: NCITF
(1988-96).
Mike & Deirdre Jarman
Mike and Deirdre Jarman are the parents of four children including
Patrick and Sean, a set of twins who are in the autism spectrum
disorder and are founders of the Vista
School in Hershey, PA. The Vista School is a group of highly
committed parents and professionals, seeking to create an alternative
educational and therapeutic program to prepare children with Autism
Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to function in the community with increasing
independence. Vista currently serves more than 48 children with
ASD ranging in age from pre-kindergarten to secondary school age
from Berks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon,
and Perry Counties.
David Kirby
David
Kirby is the author of Evidence of Harm, a non-fiction
book concerning the vaccine debate and Thimerisol. He is a professional
journalist and has written for The New York Times for the past eight
years. Kirby was a contracted writer with the weekly City Section
at The Times, where he covered public health, local politics, art
and culture, film and theater, architecture, zoning and land use,
among many other subjects. Kirby has also worked in politics, medical
research and public relations. He worked for New York City Council
President Carol Bellamy as a special assistant for healthcare, cultural
affairs and civil rights, followed by employment as chief scheduler
to Manhattan Borough President David N. Dinkins. He also was a senior
staff adviser to Dinkins’ successful 1989 run for Mayor of
New York City. From 1990-1993, Kirby was Director of Public Information
at the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR), where he acted
as press spokesman for Chairwoman Elizabeth Taylor, and witnessed
first-hand the inner workings of Congress, the White House and powerful
Federal agencies like the FDA, CDC and NIH.
Gary Mesibov, PhD
Dr.
Gary B. Mesibov is currently the Director of Division TEACCH,
an internationally recognized statewide program known for its pioneering
approaches to research, service, training, treatment and the education
of individuals with autism. Dr. Mesibov also serves as Professor
of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, and Clinical Professor,
Department of Psychology with the University of North Carolina in
Chapel Hill, NC.
Mark Mintz, MD
Mark
Mintz is a pediatric neurologist. Dr. Mintz attended medical
school at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
(UMDNJ)-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, performed his pediatric
residency training at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore
Medical Center, and completed a Pediatric Neurology fellowship at
UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School. He is triple-Board Certified in
Child Neurology, Pediatrics and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities.
Dr. Mintz is on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania School
of Medicine and UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, and is presently
a member of the medical staffs of Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center-Camden,
Weisman Children's Rehabilitation Hospital, South Jersey Healthcare
and Bancroft NeuroHealth. Dr. Mintz is widely published in the medical
literature, and has been an invited lecturer at a number of national
and international conferences. Dr. Mintz functions as the Principle
Investigator on a variety of clinical drug trials, has been the
Protocol Neurologist for a number of national Pediatric AIDS Clinical
Trials, and has participated on an array of committees and task
forces of the National Institutes of Health and the New Jersey Governor’s
office. Additionally, Dr. Mintz has served in the National Health
Service Corps of the United States Public Health Service, and has
volunteered for medical relief missions in Romania and Russia.
Lisa Sykes
The Reverend Lisa Sykes is the mother of three children. Her middle
child Wesley is autistic. An ordained minister currently serving
as Pastor for the Christ United Methodist Church in Richmond, Virginia,
she is one of the founders of the Coalition for Mercury-Free Drugs
(CoMeD) {link: http://www.mercury-freedrugs.org/}, a not-for-profit
organization focused on the removal of mercury products used in
over-the-counter and prescribed medications.
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