Research highlights and societal impact

There has been an enormous increase in community awareness of autism in particular, and in government response to the recognised need. Professor Einfeld has played a substantial role in supporting scientifically based understanding of autism and other developmental disorders in childhood, and the design and rigorous testing of interventions.

Professor Einfeld’s career competitive grants total over AU$6,000,000. He is co-chief investigator for the Australian Child to Adult Development (ACAD) Study, an 18 year longitudinal study of intellectual disability including a cohort with autism. It examines a broad range of biological, psychological and social factors of potential protection and vulnerability in the development of behavioural and emotional problems in children and adolescents with ID. These include genetic, family, educational, vocational and residential aspects. This study has three times been awarded a further 5 years funding from the NH&MRC, as well as funding from the National Institutes of Health, USA. A major report on the project was recently published in JAMA.

Professor Einfeld is co-author of the Developmental Behaviour Checklist (DBC). This instrument is widely used in clinical and research settings both within Australia and internationally, and has been translated into 21 languages. The DBC has received international recognition with a review by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) recommending its use. Further developments of this checklist include the validation of the communication subscale, collecting normative data in the Australia and overseas for the adult version. Western Psychological Services, one of the world’s leading publishers of psychological measures, has recently acquired the publishing rights for the DBC.

Professor Einfeld’s research also looks to refine the behavioural phenotypes of genetic syndromes to identify further gene to behaviour linkages, as well as intervention studies for people with autism and disruptive behaviours. He is currently a co-chief investigator on an NHMRC funded study on the effects of oxytocin in people with autism.