Summarized for space and readability. My full CV is linked here.

Aiden Leigh Ford

she/her/hers

RESEARCH INTERESTS

The mechanisms by which modifiable factors, including early social experience, result in individual neurobehavioral variability. Committed to translational research with applications for public health policy.

EDUCATION

2017 B.S. in Physiology and Neurobiology with Honors; Neurodevelopment and Health, Summa Cum Laude; Minors: Anthropology, Neuroscience.
University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut

2024 Ph.D. in Biological and Biomedical Sciences: Neuroscience
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
Dissertation title: Infant neurobehavioral development as a product of iterative, transactional engagement with their familial and social contexts

SELECT ABSTRACTS

2018 A. Ford, S. Markert, J. Olmstead, A. Klin, S. Shultz, M. Lense, W. Jones. Divergent patterns of time-varying visual attention to social stimuli in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder and Williams Syndrome. INSAR Annual Meeting, May 2018, Rotterdam, Netherlands

2019 A. Ford, L. Li, W. Jones, A. Klin, S. Shultz. Associations between changes in social visual engagement and white matter microstructure during the first 6 months of life. INSAR Annual Meeting, May 2019, Montreal, Canada

2020 A. Ford, W. Jones, L. Li, S. Shultz. Neurobehavioral precursors of selective attention to the mouth: social visual engagement scaffolds mechanisms of language learning in typical infancy. International Congress of Infant Studies, July 2020. Virtual Meeting.

2021 A. Ford, A. Wang, J. Steele, C. Payne, S. Bounar, T. Jonesteller, J. Wesson, E. Feczko, E. Earl, L. Li, M. Styner, D. Fair, W. Jones, J. Bachevalier, M. Sanchez, Z. A. Kovacs-Balint. Attention to the eyes is related to maturation of the visual object pathway in infant rhesus macaques. INSAR Annual Meeting, May 2021. Virtual Meeting.

2022 A. Ford, X. Dai, L. Li, Z. Ammar, W. Jones, A. Klin, S. Shultz. Maturation of pyramidal tracts supports the emergence of preferential attention to the eyes during infancy. Flux Congress, September 2022. Paris, France.

2022 A. Ford* & Z. Ammar*, S. Shultz, L. Li. Lateralization of major white matter tracts from 0-6 months is time-varying and tract specific. Fetal, Infant, and Toddler Neuroimaging Group Conference, September 2022. Paris, France. Best Poster Award.

*Co-first authors

PRESENTATIONS

2021 A. Ford. Development of face visual processing using combined eye-tracking and MRI: in search of nonhuman primate models of social deficits of relevance to Autism. Autism Center of Excellence Principal Investigator Meeting, virtually hosted by the National Institutes of Health, June 21-22, 2021.

2022 A. Ford & S. Shultz. Behavioral differences in infant-caregiver interactions from 0-6 months in autism. Baby Siblings Research Consortium Annual Meeting. November 4, 2022. Minneapolis, Minnesota.

2022 A. Ford, X. Dai, L. Li, Z. Ammar, W. Jones, A. Klin, S. Shultz. Functional regression methods reveal maturation of corticofugal motor tracts supports a critical transition in social visual engagement. Fetal, Infant, and Toddler Neuroimaging Group Conference: Innovative Methods and Analysis Techniques Symposium. September 6, 2022. Paris, France.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

2017 – Present Member, International Society for Autism Research

2019 – Present Student Member, Flux Society for Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

2020 – Present Student Member, International Congress of Infant Studies

Fetal, Infant, Toddler Neuroimaging Group (FIT’NG)

2021 Scientific Program Committee, 2021 Satellite Meeting

2021 – 2022 Committee & Founding Member, Trainee Committee

2021 – 2023 Committee Member, Communications Committee

2022 – 2023 Committee Chair, Trainee Committee