2026 Family Conference Speakers
Listed below are our confirmed speakers for this year’s Family Conference. Speakers will be added as they are confirmed.
CURE & CARE SPEAKERS
Alex Kolevzon, MD
Clinical Director, Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Alex Shcheglovitov, PhD
Associate Professor of Neurobiology, University of Utah, Faculty Director of Cellular & Translational Research Core
Utah Clinical & Translational Science Institute
Amelle L. Shillington, DO
Attending Physician, Division of Human Genetics, Associate Program Director, Medical Genetics and Genomics Residencies, Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
Antonio M. Persico, MD
Full Proessor in Child & Adolescent Neuropsychiatry; Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia
Audrey Thurm, PhD
Director, Neurodevelopmental and Behavioral Phenotyping Service, Intramural Research Program
National Institutes of Mental Health
Boaz Barak, PhD
Prof. Boaz Barak, The Sagol School of Neuroscience and The School of Psychological Sciences
Tel Aviv University, Israel
Calliope Holingue, MPH, PhD
Assistant Professor, Center for Autism Services, Science, and Innovation (CASSI™), Kennedy Krieger Institute; Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Kennedy Krieger Institute; Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Cristan Farmer, PhD
Senior Staff Scientist; Rosamund Stone Zander and Hansjoerg Wyss Translational Neuroscience Center
Boston Children’s Hospital
Guoping Feng, PhD
Poitras Professor of Neuroscience; Associate Director, McGovern Institute for Brain Research; Director, Hock E. Tan and K. Lisa Yang Center for Autism Research; Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Director of Model Systems and Neurobiology
Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research Institute; Member, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Haitham Amal, PhD
Satell Family Professor of Brain Sciences
Boston Children’s Hospital, Hebrew University, Neurons therapeutics.
Jimmy L. Holder, Jr. MD, PhD
Co-Chair BCM Medical School Admissions Committee, Joan and Stanford Alexander Chair for Neuropsychiatric Genetics, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology
Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine
Jonathan D. Santoro, MD
Las Madrinas Endowed Chair and Chief of Neurology, Co-Director, Neurological Institute; Director of Neuroimmunology, Associate Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics Children’s Hospital Los Angeles; Associate Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California
Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles
Kristina T. Johnson, PhD
Assistant Professor, Northeastern University, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering | College of Engineering, Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders | Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Assistant Professor Adjunct, Yale School of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery | Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Research Affiliate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Affective Computing | MIT Media Lab
Northeastern University
Latha Valluripalli Soorya, PhD, BCBA
Associate Professor | Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Director | AARTS Center
Rush University Medical Center
Milena Andzelm, MD, PhD
Boston Children’s Hospital
Natasha Ludwig, PhD
Neuropsychologist, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Kennedy Krieger; Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Pilar Trelles, MD
Associate Chief, Outpatient Psychiatry; Clinical Director, Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Psychiatric Service
Boston Children’s Hospital
Sid Srivastava, MD
Assistant Professor of Neurology
Harvard Medical School, Boston Children’s Hospital
Somer Bishop, PhD
Professor in Residence, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
University of California San Francisco
Teresa M. Kohlenberg, MD
Member, Phelan-McDermid Syndrome Neuropsychiatric Consultation Group (ECHO)
Assistant Professor, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Tess Levy, CGC
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry , Clinical Trials Manager
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
William E. Bennett, MD, MS
Associate Professor of Pediatrics; Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition; Scientific Director, Indiana CTSI Patient Engagement Core; Adjunct Associate Professor of Urology
Indiana University School of Medicine
CONNECT SPEAKERS
Chardell Buchanan, MA, RDN
PMSF FOUNDERS
Katy Phelan, PhD
Past Director, Co-Founder
Susan Lomas
Past President, Co-Founder
Nick Assendelft
Past Vice President, Co-Founder
Curtis Rogers, MD
Chairman Emeritus, Co-Founder