James McPartland, PhD
Harris Professor in the Child Study CenterCards
About
Titles
Harris Professor in the Child Study Center
Director, Center for Brain and Mind Health; Director, Yale Developmental Disabilities Clinic; Director of Undergraduate Studies, Yale Child Study Center; Co-Director of Team Science, Yale Center for Clinical Investigation (YCCI)
Biography
James C. McPartland, Ph.D., is the Harris Professor of Child Psychiatry and Psychology at the Yale Child Study Center. He is a practicing licensed child psychologist and Director of the Yale Developmental Disabilities Clinic. Dr. McPartland is a Director of the Yale Center for Brain and Mind Health, Co-Director of Team Science at the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation, Director of Undergraduate Studies at the Child Study Center, and the Principal Investigator of the Autism Biomarkers Consortium for Clinical Trials, a US-based effort to identify biomarkers to support intervention research in autism. Dr. McPartland began clinical research in neurodevelopmental conditions as an undergraduate at Harvard University, graduating with High Honors in Psychology in 1996. He earned his doctoral degree in Child Clinical Psychology from the University of Washington in 2005 and completed autism-focused fellowships at the Yale Child Study Center, where he joined the faculty in 2006. Dr. McPartland’s program of research investigates the brain bases of neurodevelopmental conditions to develop biologically-based tools to improve detection, treatment, and, ultimately, the quality of life for autistic people and their families. His research has been continuously supported since 2007 by both federal (NIMH, NICHD, NINDS, NIDCD; R21, R03, K23, R01, U19) and private research grants (NARSAD, the Autism Science Foundation, the Waterloo Foundation, Autism Speaks, the Patterson Trust, the Simons Foundation, the Nancy Taylor Foundation, the Alan B. Slifka Foundation, the Hilibrand Foundation), and Spectrum named him the top-funded autism researcher for the decade 2010 to 2019. His contributions to the field have been recognized by numerous awards, including the NARSAD Atherton Young Investigator Award, the International Society for Autism Research Young Investigator Award, the Patterson Trust Clinical Research Award, the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Klerman Prize, and the APA Sara S. Sparrow Early Career Research Award, and he has been named a Fellow by two divisions of the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science. Dr. McPartland has published 7 books and more than 200 scholarly works on autism and related topics. He is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, the Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, the Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disabilities, and the Encyclopedia of Autism and Related Disorders. Dr. McPartland is active in public scientific communication, with his clinical and research activities featured in media, such as the A&E series, The Employables, and news outlets, such as the New York Times. He has served on the executive boards of the International Society for Autism Research and the APA Division of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities/Autism Spectrum Disorder and currently chairs the Scientific Advisory Board of the Autism Science Foundation.
Appointments
Child Study Center
ProfessorPrimaryDepartment of Psychology
ProfessorSecondary
Other Departments & Organizations
- Center for Brain & Mind Health
- Child Study Center
- Department of Psychology
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program
- McPartland Lab
- Neural Disorders
- NeuroPET Imaging Program
- Neuroscience Track
- Predoctoral Internship and Postdoctoral Fellowship in Psychology
- Wu Tsai Institute
- Yale Combined Program in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS)
- Yale Medicine
- Yale Ventures
Education & Training
- Intern
- Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT (2006)
- PhD
- University of Washington (2005)
- Postdoc
- Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT, Psychology, Autism (2005)
- BA
- Harvard University (1996)
Research
Overview
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Academic Achievements & Community Involvement
Clinical Care
Overview
Clinical Specialties
Fact Sheets
Diagnosing Autism
Learn More on Yale Medicine
News & Links
Media
News
- October 15, 2024
A Key Brain Difference Linked to Autism Is Found for the First Time in Living People
- September 11, 2024
Youth Suicide Is on the Rise: Yale Aims to Save Lives
- July 30, 2024Source: Newsweek
Scientists May Have Discovered the Cause of Autism
- July 01, 2024
Yale Child Study Center recognizes 2024 award recipients and retirees