Detailed Biography:

Professor Emeritus: Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry; David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Marian Sigman, Ph.D. is the former Co-Founder and Co-Director of the UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment (CART), one of the eight NIH-funded STAART centers (2003-2008), and now one of six NIH-funded ACE Centers, in the nation.  She also was Director of the UCLA Collaborative Program of Excellence in Autism (CPEA) also funded by NIH.  The focus of Dr. Sigman's research has been to determine the biological and environmental contributors to social communicative deficits and skills in autism.  Dr. Sigman, a developmental and child clinical psychologist and UCLA Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Psychology, is an internationally acclaimed scholar and teacher.  She obtained her Ph.D. in Psychology from Boston University and was a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA before joining the UCLA faculty in 1977.  With an accomplished career spanning over 30 years, Dr. Sigman retired in 2010 and left her mark on the field with a rich history of significant scientific contributions.  Her well-respected research program has made a major impact on understanding autism, anxiety, developmental disabilities, effects of nutrition and low birth weight on cognitive development, and interventions to support children and families at risk.  Her most recent research program focuses on early identification and effective interventions with families with children with autism and autism spectrum disorders.

Dr. Sigman is widely published in her field with more than 155 peer-reviewed research reports and over 55 book chapters.  She also is co-author of the widely-praised book, Children with Autism: A Developmental Perspective (1977).  She has had a long standing record of success in obtaining extramural funding for her research.  In addition to many individual grants, she has been awarded the following highly competitive National Institutes of Health (NIH) program project and center grants:  Collaborative Program of Excellence in Autism (CPEA; 1997-2007), Studies to Advance Autism Research and Treatment (STAART; 2003-2008), and Autism Center for Excellence (ACE; 2007-2012).  Notable milestones in autism research include Dr. Sigman and colleagues' work which 1) demonstrated fundamental deficits in joint attention and presented the concept of core cognitive deficits in autism; 2) initiated novel intervention approaches based on basic research in child development; and 3) studied infant siblings of autistic children (i.e., high risk) to identify predictors of autism and prognostic information.

Throughout her career, Dr. Sigman has provided outstanding and distinguished teaching and service to the University and the academic community.  She has supervised the research of over 12 postdoctoral fellows and the doctoral training of more than 30 graduate students in clinical and developmental psychology.  Her students and peers alike provide exceptionally positive evaluations of Dr. Sigman's role as a unique and highly esteemed teacher, role model and colleague.  She was named outstanding research mentor in the UCLA Department of Psychiatry in 2000.  For 18 years, she served as training director for the NIMH funded UCLA Research Training Program Childhood Psychopathology.  She has served on Academic Senate committees and numerous local departmental and Medical School committees.  She also has provided significant service outside of UCLA.  She was the first President of the International Society for Autism Research, Chair of the Advisory Committee of the National Childcare Study, and founding President of the International Society for Infant Studies.  She also served for five years as Associate Editor of Child Development, the leading journal in the field of developmental psychology.  In February 2009, CART hosted an all-day research symposium at UCLA in honor of Dr. Sigman's long and productive scientific career.  In May 2009, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Meeting for Autism research (IMFAR).