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Emily Casanova, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Neuroscience program and the Department of Psychological Sciences at Loyola University, New Orleans, in the fall of 2022. Throughout her training and early career, Dr. Casanova’s research has been focused on the study of autism from various perspectives, including investigation of its overlap with hereditary connective tissue disorders such as Ehlers-Danlos syndromes and fragile X premutation, as well as the investigation of major effect autism susceptibility genes and their evolution. Related to the study of autism gene evolution, Dr. Casanova has also been investigating a large group of developmental regulatory genes, their roles in metazoan evolution, and how they relate to evolutionary theories such as Punctuated Equilibria. Dr. Casanova enjoys collecting antiques, traveling to other countries, knitting, collecting fossils, spending time with her family (both the two-legged and furry varieties), and a good strong cuppa tea! She also blogs on Science Over a Cuppa: https://scienceoveracuppa.com

Rosie Head is a senior at the University of Texas at Austin majoring in human development and family sciences with a concentration in early childhood and is currently a clinical intern at The Johnson Center for Child Health and Development. After completing her degree, she will attend graduate school to receive her clinical doctorate in occupational therapy. Rosie received a diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome after genetic testing and is passionate about spreading awareness, especially within the ASD community where rates of occurrence seem to be higher than the rest of the population.

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