Alycia Kay Halladay is Chief Science Officer at the

Autism Science Foundation The Autism Science Foundation (ASF) is a non-profit organization whose stated goals are to fund evidence-based autism research and support families with autistic members. The organization was founded in April 2009 by Alison Tepper Singer, a for ...

. Until 2014, she served as the senior director of environmental and clinical sciences for

Autism Speaks Autism Speaks Inc. is an American non-profit autism awareness organization and the largest autism research organization in the United States. It sponsors autism research and conducts awareness and outreach activities aimed at families, governm ...

. She originally joined the National Alliance for Autism Research in 2005 before it merged with Autism Speaks, and was named the associate director of research for environmental sciences in 2007. She also serves at an adjunct professor in the Pharmacology and Toxicology Department at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

Education

After obtaining her bachelor's degree from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

, Halladay received her M.S. (1998) and Ph.D. (2001) in psychology, both from

, where she completed a postdoctoral fellowship in pharmacology and toxicology.

Autism

At the Autism Science Foundation, Halladay leads the science program of ASF, which includes pre and post doctoral fellowships, accelerator grants, as well as large scale projects including the Autism Sisters Project the outreach and communications behind the Autism BrainNet. She also has experience managing consortium and multidisciplinary initiatives such as gene/environment interactions initiative, the High Risk Baby Siblings Consortium and the Toddler Treatment Network. She was interviewed by ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

'' magazine in 2013, saying, "There are likely thousands of genes that contribute to risk. However, there are also some environmental factors that contribute to risk. These include maternal infection and certain chemical and medical exposures." She has also said that early intervention "can make a real lifetime of difference" with regard to improving symptoms of autism in children, and after a study on

folic acid Folate, also known as vitamin B9 and folacin, is one of the B vitamins. Manufactured folic acid, which is converted into folate by the body, is used as a dietary supplement and in food fortification as it is more stable during processing and ...

and autism was published in ''

JAMA ''JAMA'' (''The Journal of the American Medical Association'') is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times a year by the American Medical Association. It publishes original research, reviews, and editorials covering all aspects of b ...

'', Halladay said that taking folic acid during pregnancy was "a relatively inexpensive way that parents can take action to possibly prevent risk of tube birth defects and autism".

References

Autism researchers Living people Rutgers University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American psychologists American women psychologists 21st-century American women {{US-psychologist-stub