ACCEPT Lab

• Oct 20, 2023 - Dr. Melanie Penner Awarded a 5-year, $2M CIHR Grant
• Sep 28, 2021 - Enhancing Access to More Timely Autism Diagnoses for Families
   

• 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 (CURRENTLY RECRUITING)
• 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
• Lili Senman, Research Coordinator
• Victoria Rombos, Research Coordinator
• Anmol Patel, Research Assistant
• Zainab Salami, Research Assistant
• Isabelle Caven, Research Assistant

Current Trainees

• Carly Cermak, Post-Doctoral Fellow
• Josie Kearney, Medical Student
• Danielle Pearlston, Medical Student
• Mays Alhellawi, Undergrad Student
• Saebom Park, PhD Student
• Humna Siddiqui, Master’s Student

Below are some of our publications.

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

* denotes trainees.

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

Researchers: Co-PI Applicants: Penner, M, Robeson P, Flynn R, Ip A.

Co-Applicants: 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