The LEND program at Boston Children's Hospital is in the fourth year of our current five-year award. We continue to offer interdisciplinary training to a new cohort of LEND fellows each year. This year there are 21 fellows representing 14 disciplines. Fellows participate in a series of didactic seminars and courses each Friday from September through mid-May. Course work focuses on interdisciplinary evaluations, Life Course perspective and public health, cultural competence, family-centered care and the medical home. Seminars devoted to clinical discussions, evidence-based research, Autism Spectrum Disorder, management/conflict resolution, and disability policy are offered through the year. Fellows also participate in community visits to families and to Title V program directors. Most fellows affiliate with various community-based organizations that offer services to diverse populations throughout the Boston area. These include the Haitian-American Public Health Initiative (HAPHI), Somali Development Center, Family Nurturing, Threshold Program at Lesley University, Partners for Youth with Disabilities, and the Guardianship and Transition program at BCH, the Special Education Surrogate Parents program at the Federation for Children with Special Needs. Other fellows who are Pediatric Audiology Externs or Developmental Behaviors Pediatric (DBP) Fellows, or Post-Doc psychologists or OT and PT residents focus much of their attention on clinical work at Children's. Clinical Fellows also often are team members of the LEND/flex team or the Down Syndrome Program. Near the end of the year fellows are invited to go to Washington DC for the annual Disability Policy Seminar that culminates with visits to Capitol Hill with their Representatives and Senators. The end-of-year convocation will be in May 2025.

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2025-20 LEND Fellows

Front row: Kelly Quaye, Amanda Gannaway, Chelsea Carpenito, Shealyn O'Donnell, Carson Rogge
Middle row: Ashley Malley, Cristina Cortez, Madelon Bird, Casey Crawford, Jason Shandler, Kelly Weaver
Back row: Jennifer Chen, Sarah Sparks, Kaitlin O'Connell, Jacob Stansell, Jordy Lome, Viviana Francis, Louise Dominque, Aanchal Sharma, Jillian Tuso, Hannah Lim

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The LEND Program is seeking a self-advocate with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities to take part in a fellowship starting this September.

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David Helm, Muhammad Waqar Azeem, Kerim Munir in Doha, Qatar

WISH Summit Report

Kerim Munir, MD, along with David Helm, PhD, Tara Lavelle, PhD (former fellow with Dr. Munir) and Muhammad Waqar Azeem, MD (former LEND fellow and student of Dr. Munir) conducted extensive research interviewing over 25 leaders in Autism from over a dozen countries about developing a framework to begin to meet the needs of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families. The report was presented before 1,400 delegates at the World Innovation Summit for Health: A Healthier World Through Global Collaboration in Doha, Qatar representing over 25 countries. (Conference report: Autism: A Global Framework for Action.) Posters from this work were presented at IMFAR, Autism CARES, and AUCD conferences and a chapter will appear later this year in the Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders.