Jason Lunden, a scientist who has high-functioning autism (or what was previously known as Asperger’s syndrome), works as a postdoc with Emanuel DiCiccio-Bloom who is one of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School’s top autism researchers. Lunden has earned his PhD in neurobiology from Temple University in Philadelphia. He want to devote his scientific career to autism research having experienced difficulties growing up with autism. Lunden and DiCiccio-Bloom complements each other’s work, the former studies how the brain circuits affect behavior while the latter studies the structural differences in the brain. And having Lunden know first-hand the effect of autism over the years has become an advantage. Their work is being funded until July 2016 by a three-year National Institute of Health grant supported by an Institutional Research and Career Development Award, and after that Lunden hopes to land a faculty position at a non-research college to teach molecular biology, cell biology, and neuroscience. The researchers aim to gain better understanding of the brain circuitry of autism in order to develop appropriate treatments and help more children with autism.

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