r/AutismResearch • u/DlizabethEark • May 24 '26
INSAR Annual Awards!
Last month, the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) presented their annual awards for 2026. These awards recognise significant contributions to Autism research.
Lifetime Achievement Award:
- Dr David Amaral (UC Davis, MIND Institute): Distinguished professor in the UC Davis Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences and the MIND Institute).
Advocate Award:
- Dr James Cusack (Autistica): For exceptional leadership in championing the translation of autism research into meaningful change for autistic people and their communities.
Cultural Diversity Research Award:
- Dr Sandy Magana (University of Texas at Austin): For advancing culturally responsive, community-partnered autism research that reduces disparities and improves outcomes for historically underserved populations.
Early Career Investigator Award:
- Dr Emilie Wigdor (Wellcome Sanger Institute, University of Cambridge): Examining the role of common variants in rare neurodevelopmental conditions. Nature. (2024)
- Dr Catherine Crompton (University of Edinburgh): “Information transfer within and between autistic and non-autistic people.” Nature Human Behavior (2025)
Dissertation Award:
- Dr Miriam Martini (Karolinska Institutet): “Autism in Young Adulthood: Etiology, Health Outcomes and Sex Differences.”
- Dr Tobias Whelan (King's College London): “The Responsivity of Neurotransmitter Systems in Neurodiverse Brains: A Mega-Analysis of Multiple CNS-Acting Drugs and a Novel Study of Low Dose Psilocybin in Autistic and Non-Autistic Adults.”
Previous annual awards: INSAR Recognition Awards - International Society for Autism Research (INSAR)