The Carolina Autism and Neurodevelopment (CAN) Research Center at USC brings together an interdisciplinary group of faculty, trainees, and staff from across campus to collaborate and advance research in the fields of autism and neurodevelopment.
Dr. Roberts is a Carolina Distinguished Professor and former Associate Dean for Natural Sciences in the McCausland College of Arts and Sciences. Her work focuses on understanding the biological mechanisms that underlie cognitive and behavioral functioning in children and adults with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, fragile X syndrome, and ADHD. Dr. Roberts also serves as CAN's Executive Director.
Dr. Twiss is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, SmartState Chair in Childhood Neurotherapeutics, and Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies. The Twiss lab uses molecular and cellular biology approaches to understand how neurons develop and function. They are particularly interested in how post-transcriptional regulation impacts neuron growth, focusing on subcellular mRNA translation and RNA dynamics in neurons.
Dr. Hudac's research focuses on brain development in infants, children, and adults with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) and with a genetic mutation linked to NDDs. She uses multiple techniques (EEG, ERP, eye tracking, fMRI) to target the underlying biology associated with social attention and cognition.
Dr. McCary’s research and scholarship have been dedicated to improving systems of care for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). At the core of her work is a commitment to increasing access to high-quality, evidence-based services while simultaneously enhancing the professional capacity of clinicians and service providers. Dr. McCary integrates clinical practice, scholarly inquiry, and interdisciplinary collaboration to address critical gaps in care and improve outcomes for individuals with ASD and NDDs.
Dr. Bradshaw’s research focuses on early identification of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the first years of life, including: 1) quantifying the emergence of, and interrelations between, social behavior, visual attention, and motor skills in neonates, infants, and toddlers, 2) identifying aberrant neurodevelopmental pathways that lead to the emergence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and 3) translating these basic findings to early detection and intervention strategies for ASD.
Dr. Edmunds studies neurodiversity-informed interventions that address functional impairments associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), such as in social communication, flexibility, emotion regulation, and anxiety. She aims to investigate how to best implement, tailor, and increase accessibility for evidence-based interventions for ASD within early intervention, school, and mental healthcare systems.
Dr. Foster’s research is focused on understanding how specific neuronal circuits regulate repetitive behaviors and habitual behaviors in rodents with the goal of identifying novel therapeutic strategies for treating symptoms observed in numerous disorders including autism spectrum disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Dr. Hock’s research is aimed at promoting healthy parenting and family-centered service delivery for families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and behavioral health challenges. Dr. Hock is particularly committed to developing and testing family-system interventions to improve caregiver mental health, strengthen parent-child relationships, support co-parenting effectiveness, and increase service access. He has been an investigator on five interventions for parents, and is currently an MPI (with Dr. Mark Feinberg) of an NIH R01 Clinical trial (R01HD099295) titled, “Test of an Innovative, Scalable Support Program for Parents with a Child Recently Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.”
Dr. Hogan's research focuses on social communication in neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., autism spectrum disorder, fragile X syndrome), with an emphasis on factors that contribute to social communication development in young children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Dr. Hogan is especially interested in understanding the relationship between physiological regulation, anxiety symptoms, and social communication difficulties in young children.
Dr. Welshhans’ research focuses on molecular mechanisms in the brain that regulate the formation of nervous system connectivity during development. Using both mouse and human cellular models, her lab aims to identify how changes in these mechanisms may contribute to Down syndrome and the intellectual disability phenotype.