Adjunct Faculty
Adjunct faculty typically have an academic or research appointment at another institution and contribute or collaborate with one or more School of Medicine faculty members or programs.
Adjunct rank detailsKevin Pelphrey, PhD
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Biography
Kevin Pelphrey is an internationally renowned neuroscientist and the parent of a young woman with autism. He utilizes brain science to develop biologically-based tools for detection, stratification and individually tailored treatments. He leads the NIH Autism Center for Excellence—Multimodal Developmental Neurogenetics of Autism network that spans seven national sites. He directs an NIH postdoctoral training program to prepare scientist-clinicians for independent careers translating multidisciplinary science into novel treatments for neurodevelopmental disorders. At George Washington University, Dr. Pelphrey is the Carbonell Family Professor and director of the Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Institute. The institute serves as a focal point for translational research and comprehensive clinical services for autism, while also serving as a beacon for policymakers seeking information on issues surrounding policy, research and treatment of autism.
Last Updated on June 08, 2025.
Appointments
Child Study Center
Professor AdjunctPrimary
Other Departments & Organizations
Education & Training
- PhD
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2001)
Research
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Overview
Medical Research Interests
Brain; Child Development; Child Psychiatry; Neurosciences; Psychiatry; Psychiatry and Psychology; Psychology, Child; Translational Research, Biomedical
ORCID
0000-0001-5407-2577
Research at a Glance
Yale Co-Authors
Frequent collaborators of Kevin Pelphrey's published research.
Publications Timeline
A big-picture view of Kevin Pelphrey's research output by year.
Research Interests
Research topics Kevin Pelphrey is interested in exploring.
James McPartland, PhD
Abha Gupta, MD, PhD
Adam Naples, PhD
Brian Pittman
Catherine Sullivan
Fred Volkmar, MD
31Publications
820Citations
Publications
2026
Psychometric Investigation of Preliminary Item-Set for the Self-Assessment of Autistic Traits
Kenworthy L, daVanport S, Bascom J, Ratto A, Anthony L, Khuu A, Carel E, Strang J, Verbalis A, Pugliese C, Shen J, Pelphrey K, Yang J, consortium G. Psychometric Investigation of Preliminary Item-Set for the Self-Assessment of Autistic Traits. Autism In Adulthood 2026 DOI: 10.1177/25739581251366048.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAltmetricFrom Breath to Brain: NICU respiratory interventions and bedside brain signal entropy predict later autism risk
Nance M, Chang W, Aldridge C, Burnsed J, Pelphrey K, Zanelli S, Puglia M. From Breath to Brain: NICU respiratory interventions and bedside brain signal entropy predict later autism risk. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience 2026, 78: 101679. PMID: 41576766, PMCID: PMC12861191, DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101679.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsAutism spectrum disorderPRISM scoreRisk of neurodevelopmental disordersHigher PRISM scoreAutism spectrum disorder diagnosisPremature infantsProlonged ventilationMale babyRespiratory supportBrain signal variabilityFemale infantSystemic inflammationRespiratory interventionsHigh riskInfantsSaliva collectionResting state conditionSignal entropyOptimal outcomesSpectrum disorderNon-invasive measurementNeurodevelopmental disordersEarly interventionInflammationBrain
2025
The Convergence of Early-Life Stress and Autism Spectrum Disorder on the Epigenetics of Genes Key to the HPA Axis
Han E, Canada K, Puglia M, Pelphrey K, Evans T. The Convergence of Early-Life Stress and Autism Spectrum Disorder on the Epigenetics of Genes Key to the HPA Axis. Biology 2025, 15: 66. PMID: 41514907, PMCID: PMC12785127, DOI: 10.3390/biology15010066.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAltmetricConceptsEarly-life stressAutism spectrum disorderHPA axisSpectrum disorderHPA axis negative feedbackAutism spectrum disorder phenotypeHypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axisAutism candidate genesMaternal stressAutismEnvironmental influencesAutism spectrum disorder genesPostnatal yearNegative feedbackDisordersAnimal evidenceCandidate genesNarrative reviewEpigenetic modificationsEpigenetic regulationPhenotypic outcomesEpigenetic alterationsAssociated genesGenesRisk factorsHarnessing Trial-to-Trial Variability of EEG Spectral Characteristics to Understand Autism
M. Shama D, Su M, Beeler-Duden S, Bernier R, Bookheimer S, Dapretto M, McPartland J, Jeste S, Horn J, Pelphrey K, Venkataraman A. Harnessing Trial-to-Trial Variability of EEG Spectral Characteristics to Understand Autism. Journal Of Autism And Developmental Disorders 2025, 1-12. PMID: 41273602, DOI: 10.1007/s10803-025-07125-y.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsClassification accuracyNeural variabilityMachine learning modelsEEG spectral characteristicsClassification performancePower spectral featuresMachine learningLearning modelsPower metricsElectroencephalography featuresClinical relevanceNon-invasive methodCross-validation resultsObjective biomarkersEEG variablesPersonalized toolsMethodsThis studyNeural disruptionAutism spectrum disorderElectroencephalography variablesMetricsClassificationCross-validationPrecision diagnosticsBiomarkersChild-Parent Interaction Quality Shows Opposite Relationships with Language Comprehension Skill and Autism Symptomatology
Shah L, Marzoratti A, Hofkens T, Nevill R, Pianta R, Pelphrey K, Krafnick A, Evans T. Child-Parent Interaction Quality Shows Opposite Relationships with Language Comprehension Skill and Autism Symptomatology. Journal Of Autism And Developmental Disorders 2025, 1-15. PMID: 41134476, DOI: 10.1007/s10803-025-07095-1.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAltmetricConceptsAutism spectrum disorderChild’s autism symptomsLinguistic comprehension skillsAutism symptomsComprehension skillsPhonemic decodingAssociated with reading comprehensionReading comprehensionAutism spectrum disorder diagnosisAutism symptom severityLanguage comprehension skillsChild-parent interactionsAutism symptomatologyStandardized reading assessmentsGeneral intelligenceSymptom severityLinguistic comprehensionSentence parsingSpectrum disorderSocial processesAutistic childrenChildren's scoresSemantic contextAutismSocial behavior patternsNumber of Alpha Peaks in the Electroencephalogram Is Associated With Clinical Phenotype and Copy Number Variants in Youths With Autism
Arutiunian V, Opdahl M, Sullivan C, Santhosh M, Neuhaus E, Borland H, Bernier R, Bookheimer S, Dapretto M, Jack A, Jeste S, McPartland J, Naples A, Van Horn J, Pelphrey K, Webb S, Gupta A. Number of Alpha Peaks in the Electroencephalogram Is Associated With Clinical Phenotype and Copy Number Variants in Youths With Autism. Biological Psychiatry Cognitive Neuroscience And Neuroimaging 2025, 11: 300-309. PMID: 41101705, PMCID: PMC12959347, DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2025.10.001.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsConceptsCopy number variationsClinical phenotypeAlpha-band activityGenome-wide CNV analysisAssociated with clinical phenotypesNumber variationsResting-state EEGCNV analysisAutism spectrum disorderGenetic burdenBehavioral phenotypesPhenotypeAlphaNeural activityEEGAlpha peakCopyHigher presencePresence of autistic traitsSpectrum disorderLearning Explainable Imaging-Genetics Associations Related to a Neurological Disorder
Wang J, Jacokes Z, Van Horn J, Schatz M, Pelphrey K, Venkataraman A. Learning Explainable Imaging-Genetics Associations Related to a Neurological Disorder. Lecture Notes In Computer Science 2025, 15970: 347-357. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-05141-7_34.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsGenetic dataGenetic variationBiological pathwaysCross-attention mechanismEarly fusion strategyDeep learning frameworkComplex brain disordersAlzheimer's diseaseBlack-box techniquesStructural variationsSparsity lossCross-attentionSimilarity lossBaseline approachesLearning frameworkFusion strategyAttention matrixLoss functionNeurological disordersPathwayBlack-boxComplex interplayGeneticsTraditional methodsBiSCoT: Behavior-Informed Subgroup-Consistent Connectome Template for Interpretable Brain Network Analysis
Chen Z, Beeler-Duden S, Lawson S, Jacokes Z, Van Horn J, Pelphrey K, Venkataraman A. BiSCoT: Behavior-Informed Subgroup-Consistent Connectome Template for Interpretable Brain Network Analysis. Lecture Notes In Computer Science 2025, 15971: 109-119. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-05162-2_11.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsConceptsResting-state fMRIAutism spectrum disorderGraph convolutional networkDownstream prediction tasksBrain network analysisSpectrum disorderBehavioral profileCompression frameworkRs-fMRIConvolutional networkLearning subnetworkPrediction taskMultidimensional behavioral profilesFunctional subnetworksPooling processConnectivity featuresBehavioral informationConnectivity matrixSubnetworksDataset of individualsBiomarker identificationWidespread associations between behavioral metrics and brain microstructure in ASD suggest age mediates subtypes of ASD
Ressa H, Newman B, Jacokes Z, McPartland J, Kleinhans N, Druzgal T, Pelphrey K, Van Horn J. Widespread associations between behavioral metrics and brain microstructure in ASD suggest age mediates subtypes of ASD. Imaging Neuroscience 2025, 3: imag.a.144. PMID: 40948605, PMCID: PMC12423640, DOI: 10.1162/imag.a.144.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricConceptsAutism spectrum disorderAge-related maturationRepetitive behaviorsCognitive evaluationNeuroimaging markersMarkers of autism spectrum disorderSubtype of autism spectrum disorderBehavioral metricsComposite test scoresEvaluation of autismAdolescent brainMachine learning cluster analysisLanguage performanceBrain metricsSpectrum disorderBehavioral testsASD subtypesNeuroimaging dataSensory sensitivityBehavior trajectoriesNeurodevelopmental disordersSocial communicationBrain microstructureDevelopmental periodTest scoresUsing the excitation/inhibition ratio to optimize the classification of autism and schizophrenia
Uscătescu L, Hyatt C, Dunn J, Kronbichler M, Calhoun V, Corbera S, Pelphrey K, Pittman B, Pearlson G, Assaf M. Using the excitation/inhibition ratio to optimize the classification of autism and schizophrenia. Translational Psychiatry 2025, 15: 234. PMID: 40634290, PMCID: PMC12241497, DOI: 10.1038/s41398-025-03455-8.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsAutism Diagnostic Observation ScheduleBermond-Vorst Alexithymia QuestionnaireEmpathy QuotientE/I ratioResting state fMRI dataClassification of autismReplication datasetAlexithymia QuestionnairePANSSSchizophreniaObservation ScheduleFMRI dataGroup differencesAutismExcitation/inhibition ratioIQE/IHurst (H) exponentRandom forest classifierExcitation/inhibitionTDClassification performanceTime courseClassification analysisExploratory dataset
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