Catherine Lord (born 1950) is an American psychologist and researcher. She currently serves as a member of the International Advisory Board for

The Lancet Psychiatry ''The Lancet Psychiatry'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Elsevier. It is a speciality journal of The Lancet. Abstracting and indexing The journal is abstracted and indexed in: *Science Citation Index Expanded *Scopus *Social ...

, as co-chair of the Scientific Research Council of the Child Mind Institute, and as the George Tarjan Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Education at the

Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior The Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior is a research institute of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). It includes a number of centers, including the "Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics", which uses DNA sequencing, ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

. Lord is credited for co-developing the

Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) is a standardized diagnostic test for assessing autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The protocol consists of a series of structured and semi-structured tasks that involve social interaction between t ...

(ADOS) and the

Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised The Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) is a structured interview conducted with the parents of individuals who have been referred for the evaluation of possible autism or autism spectrum disorders. The interview, used by researchers and cl ...

(ADI-R), which are together considered the "gold standard" tools for diagnosing

autism spectrum disorder Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...

(ASD). Lord is also known for leading one of the largest and longest-running

longitudinal studies A longitudinal study (or longitudinal survey, or panel study) is a research design that involves repeated observations of the same variables (e.g., people) over long periods of time (i.e., uses longitudinal data). It is often a type of observation ...

of autism and related developmental conditions in modern research. Started in 1990, her longitudinal study of autism has followed a community sample of over 200 individuals, initially referred to community clinics for early autism evaluations as young children, and their families, for nearly 30 years. She has authored hundreds of peer-reviewed journal articles and more than 10 books about autism through this study and others.

Career

Lord received her

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in Psychology from

in 1971, and her

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in Psychology from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

in 1976. From 2012 to 2018, she was professor of psychology at

Weill Cornell Medical College Weill Cornell Medicine (; officially Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University), originally Cornell University Medical College, is the medical school of Cornell University, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in Ne ...

. In 2017, Lord joined Tilray's Medical Advisory Board. She is also professor emerita of psychology and psychiatry at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, where she was formerly the director of the University of Michigan Autism and Communication Disorders Center. Lord currently directs the Lord Lab at UCLA, where she serves as the George Tarjan Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry in the David Geffen School of Medicine and as a senior research scientist in the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. There, she is the principal investigator of several studies, including the longitudinal study of autism. She also mentors a small group of PhD candidates, postdoctoral researchers, and clinical trainees.

Awards and honors

Lord has received a considerable number of awards and recognitions throughout her career. In 2010, she was awarded the

APA Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Applied Research The APA Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Applied Research (until 2003 known as the Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Knowledge) is a scientific award presented by the American Psychological Association "to a ...

. In 2011, she received the award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Clinical Psychology (Society of Clinical Psychology) In 2017, she received the

Sarnat Prize The Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health was established in 1992 and is awarded annually by the National Academy of Medicine in the United States to recognize individuals, groups, or organizations for outstanding achievemen ...

in Mental Health from the

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...

. In 2018, Lord was elected a member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

.https://www.autism-insar.org/ In 2019, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Society for Autism Research.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lord, Catherine 21st-century American psychologists Autism researchers Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1950 births Living people University of Michigan Department of Psychology faculty Members of the National Academy of Medicine 20th-century American psychologists University of California, Los Angeles alumni Harvard Medical School alumni