James C McPartland PhD

Assistant Professor in the Child Study Center and of Psychology; Associate Director, Developmental Electrophysiology Lab; Director of Undergraduate Studies, Yale Child Study Center; Director, Yale Developmental Disabilities Clinic

Biographical Info

James McPartland is Assistant Professor of Child Psychiatry and Psychology, Director of the Yale Developmental Disabilities Clinic, Director of Undergraduate Studies, and Associate Director of the Developmental Electrophysiology Laboratory at the Yale Child Study Center. He graduated magna cum laude in Psychology from Harvard University in 1996 and received a doctoral degree in Child Clinical Psychology from the University of Washington in 2005, studying with Dr. Geraldine Dawson. Under the mentorship of Drs. Ami Klin and Fred Volkmar, he completed pre- and post-doctoral clinical fellowships focusing on autism and related disorders and is a licensed child psychologist. He offers an undergraduate seminar addressing topics in autism and providing students with first-hand clinical experiences with local service providers. Dr. McPartland’s program of research investigates the integrity of brain systems supporting social information processing in children with social disabilities. He is particularly interested in the developmental nature of social deficits in autism and the role that experience plays in shaping brain function and behavior over time. The objective of Dr. McPartland’s program of research is to develop biologically-based tools for earlier identification of autism and for the objective assessment of response to intervention. Dr. McPartland’s contributions to the field have been recognized by the University of Washington’s Bolles and Gatzert Child Welfare Fellowships, a Clinical and Translational Sciences Scholar Award from the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation, a Behavioral Science Track Award for Rapid Transition and a Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Mental Health, and the NARSAD Atherton Young Investigator Award. His program of research is funded by federal and private agencies, including NIMH, NICHD, NARSAD, and the Simons Foundation. Dr. McPartland is the author of 2 books and over 35 scholarly works on autism and related topics. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disability, Encyclopedia of Autism and Related Disorders, and the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders and reviews manuscripts for more than 20 journals in the fields of clinical psychology and cognitive neuroscience. He serves on the Executive Committee of the American Psychological Association’s Division of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Education & Training

B.A.

Harvard University (1996)

Ph.D.

University of Washington (2005)

Postdoc

Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT, Psychology, Autism

Intern

Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT, Psychology, Autism (2005 - 2006)

Honors & Recognition

• Behavioral Science Track Award for Rapid Transition
  NIMH (2007)
• CTSA Scholar Award
  Yale Center for Clinical Investigation (2007)
• Harvard College Scholarship
  Harvard University (1996)
• Young Investigator Award
  International Society for Autism Research (2012)
• Young Investigator Award
  NARSAD (2009)
• Bolles Fellowship
  University of Washington (2004)
• Gatzert Child Welfare Fellowship
  University of Washington (2004)
• Career Development Award
  NIMH (2010)
• Atherton Family Investigator
  NARSAD (2010)