Thursday, March 27, 2025

Have a news story, publication, event or staff highlight for us? Submit it by 5 p.m. April 7 here.

LSIers, 

I hope everyone had a great spring break last week and squeezed in some rest. While we have several news items in the pipeline, this issue of Connections is smaller than usual. In the next edition we will have links to view videos from the Collaboratory, which feels like it took place long ago instead of just two months in the past.  Soon we will begin featuring question and answer conversations with researchers and staff and we are planning a segment on tips for identifying and seeking foundation support for research.

There are many conferences and events on the horizon, including the upcoming University Research Awards, which celebrate the research community and honor individuals such as Kathy Bigelow of Juniper Gardens Children's Project. Hope to see you there. 

-Jen Humphrey, associate director for strategic communications

University of Kansas researchers expanding knowledge of language acquisition, protein structures and extinction have received this year’s Steven F. Warren Research Achievement Award and the KU Research Staff & Postdoctoral Achievement Awards.

The annual awards recognize outstanding unclassified academic staff, unclassified professional staff and postdoctoral fellows whose research significantly influenced their fields and expanded intellectual or societal insights. This year’s recipients include Kathryn Bigelow (above left), associate research professor, Juniper Gardens Children’s Project, who will be honored with the Steven F. Warren Research Achievement Award.

The entire KU community is invited to the University Research Awards ceremony, 7 p.m. April 9. RSVP and learn more here.

The KU Life Span Institute will offer the Gatlinburg Conference in San Diego, Calif., April 7-10. This is the final year for the KU to serve as host of the long-running event that draws a global audience of intellectual and developmental disabilities researchers. 

With a theme of “Memory, Attention, and Executive Function,” the event includes plenary sessions with Sandra Loo, Ph.D., on April 8; Gaia Scerif, Ph.D., on April 9; and Stephanie Carlson, Ph.D., on April 10. More than 350 individuals plan to attend the conference.  

More information is on the Gatlinburg conference website.  

Events
Today: Mike Adams, associate director of procurement and contracts, will discuss business service agreements a 1 p.m. Thursday, March 27 via Teams (passcode: zj7sj28j) and in Dole 1031 (limited seating available). Adams will explain the process for business service agreements, key needs in terms of defining the scope for agreements, and will answer general questions. The meeting is also open to staff and investigators, and will be recorded (a link will be distributed in a future edition of Connections). 

Also today, Jomella Watson-Thompson is among panelists who will participate in Public Health After Dark, an event focused on data about violence in the county and violence prevention, 6 p.m. Thursday, March 27 at the Lawrence Public Library. 

IRB Back to Basics will offer "Respect for Persons: Vulnerable Populations," 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Friday, March 28 via Zoom (register here). The Belmont Report, which is a set of ethical principles for research involving human subjects — Respect for Persons, Beneficence, Justice — is the foundation of the regulations designed to protect human subjects. This webinar will consider each principle, reviewing the regulations and requirements in place to ensure the principle is followed. 

The KU Speech-Language-Hearing Department is offering the 9th Annual Betty H. Bunce Multicultural Lecture, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 7th at Capitol Federal Hall, room 1020. Joshuaa Allison-Burbank (pictured above), Ph.D., CCC-SLP, (Dine’/Acoma Pueblo), assistant scientist, Johns Hopkins University, will present, "+ Language is Medicine: Supporting Indigenous Toddler Development Through Caregiver-implemented Interventions." For virtual option, email the department at splh@ku.edu.

The KU Center on Disabilities Garden City Community Team is organizing a reverse job fair with students from Garden City Public Schools on April 9. Reverse job fairs turn the traditional career format upside down as job seekers present their skills and interests to potential employers. As a part of the KUCD project My Transition My Career, the event is a collaboration between USD 457 Garden City Public Schools, Kansas-WorkforceONE, and Southwest Developmental Services, Inc. More information available through KUCD social media. 

The Cofrin Logan Center for Addiction Research and Treatment will offer its final talk in the center's spring lecture series at 12:30 p.m., Friday, April 11 in 1031 Dole and live-streamed. The event will feature a presentation by Timothy Trull, Curators’ Distinguished Professor and Byler Distinguished Professor of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri.

Join researchers and staff from the Fragile X lab and KCART for a trivia night fundraiser 6 – 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 16 at the Union Pacific Depot, 402 N. 2nd Ave. Entry to the event is a $25 donation to either the National Fragile X Foundation or Autism Society of the Heartland (gift receipt is the event ticket). The event will be emceed by KU Jayhawks broadcaster Brian Hanni, and includes prizes such as gift certificates to local businesses and a 3-night vacation stay in Sedona, Ariz. 

The KU Center on Disabilities is co-sponsoring “The Ride Ahead,” a film that will be shown at Liberty Hall 4 – 6:30 p.m., Monday, April 28. The film is co-directed by the subject and star, Samuel Habib, and his father, Dan Habib. More information available through KUCD.

Training and Professional Development

Join Lisa Hallberg for the next REDCap meeting 1 p.m. on the 3rd Thursday of the month (April 17th) on Zoom (passcode: 2025).

The KU Faculty and Staff Wellness Fair will be offered 10:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. in the Kansas Union Ballroom. 

The KU Office of Research is offering a Sharepoint site with collected information about federal, state and university administrative developments in response to changing guidelines for funding and recent federal executive orders. 

The deadline to complete KU’s required online training for cybersecurity was March 25. Locate the course in the KU MyTalent system or search your inbox for a message dated Feb. 19.

Bigelow, K.M., Schnitz, A.G. & Carta, J.J. Interventions Promoting Early Social-Emotional Development. Educ. Treat. Child. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43494-024-00148-7

Goddard KS & Hall JP. (2025). Limitations of the Washington Group Short Set in capturing moderate and severe mobility disabilities. Health Affairs Scholar, Volume 3, Issue 2. https://doi.org/10.1093/haschl/qxaf015

Landes S, Hall JP, Swenor BK & Vaitsiakhovich, N. (2025) Comparative performance of disability measures. PLoS ONE 20(1): e0318745. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0318745

Rentschler, L.F., Hume, K., Steinbrenner, J.R. et al. Efficacy of an Online Caregiver Learning Series for Promoting Daily Living Skills of Autistic Adolescents. J Autism Dev Disord (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-025-06766-3

Wang, Y., Wang, Y., Wang, Z., Wang, L., Liu, C., Shogren, K. A., & Hagiwara, M. (2025). Psychometric properties of the Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report Chinese Translation when delivered online. International Journal of Developmental Disabilities, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/20473869.2025.2456787

Forbes, E.J., Tiego, J., Langmead, J. et al. Oculomotor Function in Children and Adolescents with Autism, ADHD or Co-occurring Autism and ADHD. J Autism Dev Disord (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06718-3

Lane, K. L., Pelton, K. S. L., Lane, N. A., Buckman, M. M., Oakes, W. P., Fleming, K., Romine, R. E. S., & Cantwell, E. D. (2025). A Reanalysis: SRSS-IE Internalizing Cut Scores to Support Data-Informed Decision-Making Efforts in Elementary Schools. Behavioral Disorders, 50(2), 97-104. https://doi.org/10.1177/01987429241289912

Lane, K. L., Lane, N. A., Buckman, M. M., Pelton, K. S. L., Fleming, K., & Romine, R. E. S. (2025). An Analysis of SRSS-IE Externalizing Cut Scores to Facilitate Data-Informed Decision-Making in K–12 Schools. Behavioral Disorders, 50(2), 87-96. https://doi.org/10.1177/01987429241269519

Almubark, N. M., Spencer, T. D., & Foster, M. E. (2025). AAC narrative intervention for children with autism. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/07434618.2024.2433959

Connections is produced by communications staff at the Life Span Institute for affiliated researchers, staff and students. 

Writing and editing by Jen Humphrey and Mindie Paget.
Art by KU Office of Research, Wikimedia Commons and the Speech-Languague-Hearing Department.

Please submit news, kudos, achievements and other items for consideration here.

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