Dr Gillian Baird OBE becomes a patron of Research Autism
Dr Gillian Baird becomes a patron of Research Autism
Research Autism, the charity dedicated to improving the quality of life of people living with autism through research into interventional therapies and treatments, is delighted to announce that Professor Gillian Baird OBE has agreed to become a patron of the charity.
Gillian is a paediatrician and has led the neurodisability clinical service at the Newcomen Centre for Developmental Medicine at Guy’s Hospital in London for a number of years, which has a high reputation for the work that it does with families, and for the way in which a clinical service has been combined with academic research.
Since 1994, Gillian has participated in a large number of research studies, both as a collaborator and principal investigator. Her research has been driven by the desire to answer clinical questions that will be of benefit to children with disabilities and their families. The nature of Gillian’s work in neurodisability dictates that the research is entirely clinically-based. Her research interests and publications have been wide-ranging across the field of paediatric neurodisability, including children with cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, language disorder and developmental coordination disorder. She has also worked on the development of instruments for screening and diagnosis of autism and related disorders which have informed national policies. Together with colleagues she has led two large cohort studies, in autism (SNAP) and in cerebral palsy (SH&PE), both unique because they are population representative and can form the basis of ongoing research into transition to adult life.
Gillian is Chair of the British Academy of Childhood Disability; chairs the NICE guideline on autism in children and young people and is on the guideline development group of the Adult NICE ASD guideline. She has a chair in paediatric Neurodisability at King’s College London and is also on the working groups for neurodevelopmental disorders for the DSM-5 and ICD11. Gillian was awarded an OBE in 2011 for her services to medicine at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London.
She comments: “Research Autism has been immensely helpful to families in their search for impartial information about treatments for autism through its website. The charity offers a unique service and I am very pleased to be a patron.”
Deepa Korea, Chief Executive at Research Autism, comments: “Research Autism is delighted that Gillian Baird has agreed to become a patron of the charity. Gillian brings a wealth of expertise to the organisation and has a sound understanding of the role that research into autism can play in improving the quality of life of people affected by the condition.”
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For any media enquiries please contact: Sam Gibson on 07825 554009 or email press@researchautism.net
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