ACCEPT Lab

IN THE NEWS:

• September 29, 2025 - Dr. Penner on the Decibel Podcast: "Let’s talk about autism" 
• September 23, 2025 - Ontario pediatrician says Trump's claims linking Tylenol to autism causing unnecessary 'fear and guilt' in parents
• Sep 20, 2025 - Dr. Penner's letter to the Globe and Mail Editor: "Mind your health" 
• August 2025 - Health System News Charting a Path Forward in Paediatric Disability Research
• August 13, 2025 - Dr. Penner in HB's Impact Report 2024-2025: "Building national capacity to improve the future"
• May 13, 2025  -  Dr. Penner, Jesiqua Rapley-Rodrigues and Carly C. presentation on improving access to autism diagnosis in Northern Ontario at Empowered Kids Ontario (EKO) 2025
• May 1, 2025 - Dr. Penner on CBC's The Dose: "What do we know about autism and what questions should we be asking?"
• September 3, 2024  -  Study finds that autistic peoples’ engagement in hate forums is complex
• October 20, 2023 -  Dr. Melanie Penner Awarded a 5-year, $2M CIHR Grant
• September 28, 2021 - Enhancing Access to More Timely Autism Diagnoses for Families
   

• Rigorous Evaluation of the Persistence of Autism status in Toddlers and young children: the REPeAT study
• Pathway to change: A Comprehensive Evaluation of the Extensive Needs Service Pilot Program in Ontario
• Project ECHO Autism Diagnosis and Integrated care Opportunities (ECHO AuDIO)
• Exploring Factors that Influence Autistic People who Engage in Online Hate
• Accuracy of community pediatricians’ diagnosis of developmental concerns compared to a multi-disciplinary team assessment 
• ECHO Ontario Autism

Meet the staff and students

Scientist

Research overview: As a clinician scientist, Dr. Penner's clinical and research interests are in autism. In particular, she is interested in service delivery for this population, including evaluating the impact of new care models. Dr. Penner has done research and educational work to expand Ontario's diagnostic capacity for Autism diagnoses in the community setting, decreasing wait times and facilitating earlier access to essential therapy programs.

Links:

• University of Toronto - Dr. Melanie Penner's bio

Research Staff

• Salina Eldon, Project Manager
• Genevieve Ferguson, Research Manager
• Lisa Kanigsberg, Research Coordinator
• Victoria Rombos, Research Coordinator
• Anmol Patel, Research Assistant
• Zainab Salami, Research Assistant
• Isabelle Caven, Research Assistant
• Jesiqua Rapley, Research Coordinator

Current Trainees

• Danielle Pearlston, Medical Student
• Saebom Park, MSc Student
• Justin Rao, Medical Student
• Julia Atanasova, PhD Student
• Keisha Mushiana, Undergrad Student
• Bisola Olaseni, Undergrad Student
• Gabriela Masri Ahmar, MSc Student 
• Stephanie Chuang, Medical Student 
• Anna Katalifos, PhD Student 
• Shreya Jha, Pediatrics Resident
• Kiyara De Silva, Undergrad Student
• Katelyn Zeng, Undergrad Student
• Pamela Ye, Undergrad Student 
• Mai Kondo, PhD Student

Below are some of our publications.

Find more of our published work with Dr. Penner on PubMed and Google Scholar.

* denotes trainees.

• Cermak, C. A.*, Rapley, J., Fournier, S., & Penner, M. - 2026. Barriers and Innovations Towards Accessing an Autism Diagnosis in Rural Northern Ontario: A Qualitative Study.Child: Care, Health and Development.
• Wijekoon, S., Robison, J., Welch, C., Westphal, A., Loftin, R., Jachyra, P., ... & Penner, M. -2026. Family and Clinician Perspectives About How Autism and Extremism Intersect.Autism in Adulthood.
• Rombos, V., Salami, Z. O., Ferguson, G., Baysarowich, R., Decker, K., Denomey, N., ... & Penner, M. - 2025. Development and implementation of measurement-based care for children and youth with complex mental and neurodevelopmental needs: early experiences from Ontario’s Extensive Needs Service.Frontiers in Psychiatry.
• Bosyj, C., Kanigsberg, L., Patel, A., Eldon S., Brian, J., & Penner, M. - 2025. Characterizing Project ECHO Autism Case Recommendations and Implementation. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
• Kearney, J.*, Bosyj, C.*, Rombos, V.*, Curran, A. B., Clark, B., Cornell, W., ... & Penner, M. - 2024. Community Provider Perspectives on an Autism Learning Health Network: A Qualitative Study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
• Wijekoon, S., Robison, J., Welch, C., Westphal, A., Loftin, R., Perry, B., ... & Penner, M. - 2024. Neurodivergence and the Rabbit Hole of Extremism: Uncovering Lived Experience. Autism in Adulthood.
• Penner, M., Senman, L., Andoni, L., Dupuis, A., Anagnostou, E., Kao, S., Solish, A., Shouldice, M., Ferguson, G., & Brian, J. - 2023 - Concordance of Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder Made by Pediatricians vs a Multidisciplinary Specialist Team JAMA Network Open
• Caven, I.*, Nguyen, C., Wiegelmann, J., Laframboise, E., & Penner, M. - 2023 - Understanding How Behaviour Therapists Use Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Diagnostic Information for Intervention Planning Frontiers in Psychiatry
• Jane, A.*, Kanigsberg, L., Patel, A., Eldon, S., Anagnostou, E., Brian, J., & Penner, M. - 2023 - Summative content analysis of the recommendations from Project ECHO Ontario AutismFrontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences
• Penner, M., Dupuis, A., Arnold, P., Ayub, M., Crosbie, J., Georgiades, S., Kelley, E., Nicolson, R., Schachar, R., & Anagnostou, E. - 2022 - Pubertal stage, sex and behaviour in neurodevelopmental disorders versus typical development: a cross-sectional study BMJ Paediatrics Open
• Welch, C.*, Senman, L., Loftin, R., Picciolini, C., Robison, J., Westphal, A., Perry, B., Nguyen, J., Jachyra, P., Stevenson, S., Aggarwal, J., Wijekoon, S., Baron-Cohen, S., & Penner, M. - 2022 - Understanding the Use of the Term “Weaponized Autism” in An Alt-Right Social Media Platform Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
• Makino, A.*, Hartman, L., King, G., Wong, P. Y., & Penner, M. - 2021 - Parent experiences of autism spectrum disorder diagnosis: A scoping review. Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

Project: Rigorous Evaluation of the Persistence of Autism status in Toddlers and young children: the
REPeAT study

Researchers: Penner, M; McNally Keehn, R; Brian, JA; Kushki, A; Lai, M; Mitsakakis, N; Webster, RJ

Agency: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) - Project Grant ($1,250,775, 2026 - 2029)

Project: Project ECHO Autism Diagnosis and Integrated care Opportunities (ECHO AuDIO).

Researchers: Penner, M; Robeson P; Flynn R; Ip A; Anagnostou E; Brian J; Christian E; Dever M; Hartling L; Khilji M; Kubow A; Lai J; Lai M; Munce S; Richardson A; Scorah J; Singal D; Smith I; Wijekoon S; Zwaigenbaum L.

Agency: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) - Transforming Health with Integrated Care Implementation Science Team Grant ($1,992,331, 2022 - 2027)