Emily Jones, Ph.D.

Emily Jones obtained her B.A., M.A. (natural sciences) and M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge and a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from the University of Sheffield. After an Autism Speaks Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Washington Autism Center, Jones moved to the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development at Birkbeck, University of London.

Jones’ research builds on multidisciplinary theoretical and methodological advances to delineate the neurodevelopmental pathways that lead to autism. To achieve this, she combines behavioral, neurocognitive and neuroimaging techniques to study very early brain development with a prospective longitudinal approach. To link her laboratory’s findings to neurobiology, her lab performs longitudinal prospective studies of infants with genetic disorders like neurofibromatosis type 1 and tuberous sclerosis. To combine discovery with translation, she is involved with a number of early intervention studies for infants with siblings with ASD and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Jones currently co-leads the Studying Autism and ADHD Risks (STAARS), and coordinates the Eurosibs multisite study of high risk infants across Europe. She also co-leads the infant theme and the EEG strategy for the European Autism Interventions – A Multicentre Study for Developing New Medications (EU AIMS) program, a public-private consortium that is working to develop new neurobiologically informed treatment options for individuals with ASD. Taken together, the overarching goal of Jones’ research is to understand the changes in early brain development that underpin the contribution of genetic and environmental risk factors to the emergence of autism, and to use this information to develop new identification and intervention options.