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>September 24, 2007
PRESSLEY RIDGE NAMES DR. MINSHEW 2007 ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNER
PITTSBURGH, Sept. 24, 2007 — Pressley Ridge, an international leader in the care of troubled and troubling children, will present its Annual Achievement Award to Dr. Nancy J. Minshew, a pediatric neurologist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and internationally renowned expert in the field of autism.
The award will be presented during the Pressley Ridge annual board dinner set for 7 p.m. on September 24, at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. The award has special significance as Pressley Ridge commemorates 175 years of services to children and families.
T he Annual Achievement Award was started in 1981 to recognize individuals for their outstanding service to children and families. It is presented to an individual who has made significant contributions to the welfare of children and families representing the guiding mission and values of Pressley Ridge. Past recipients include the late Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood fame, former Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy and Pressley Ridge honorary board member, Lilian Hall Fisher.
Dr. Minshew is an advocate for early intervention to improve the outcomes of children with autism. Interestingly, Pressley Ridge and Dr. Minshew share a common mission. "My day job is science. My mission has always been to improve lives." says Dr. Minshew.
“Our experience has shown that the investment of time, intervention and education early on makes children more capable of functioning typically as they grow older.”, stated Dr. Scott Finnell, president and CEO for Pressley Ridge. “Dr. Minshew’s dedication, research and belief that children with autism can be helped to reach their greatest potential have been Pressley Ridge’s philosophy since we began providing Autism services more than 12 years ago.” Dr. Minshew has been involved with autism research for more than 23 years and developed a theory of the cognitive and neural deficits in autism. She believes we can help pediatricians know what to look for and begin to see what we can do in the first year of a child’s life to head off autism and/or make it milder. Dr. Minshew also aided her colleague Dr. Jana Iverson in conducting a research study on infants with an older sibling with autism highlighting the earliest signs of autism and the chances of a family having more than one autistic child to be much higher than originally thought.
Her research in collaboration with many colleagues has steadily produced evidence that autism is a disorder that broadly involves many aspects of neurological function including sensory, motor and memory abilities as well as postural balance not previously thought to be affected. In addition, studies of the brain during thinking have shown that there are critical differences in connections between the many areas needed to accomplish complex thought. This limitation appears to explain why autism impacts the abilities most unique to humans while leaving more basic brain functions intact. This large body of research now provides the foundation for the development of the new generation of neurocognitive treatments for autism.
Dr. Minshew has also worked closed with Dr. Bernie Devlin, also at the University of Pittsburgh, on investigating the genetic basis of autism. As this research program continues to grow, Dr. Minshew looks forward to the new discoveries that will come from the work ahead and the benefits they will bring to families.
In addition, Dr. Minshew is a Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology and Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Director of the University of Pittsburgh-Carnegie Mellon Autism Center of Excellence Center funded by the National Institutes of Health in 2007. She is also working with a team of clinicians at UPMC to develop one the states first center’s that links high-level academic researchers with clinical treatment so that research advances are translated to clinical care.
Dr. Minshew was recognized with a resolution in 2003 by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Assembly, for her outstanding contributions and efforts in the study and treatment of autism and autism spectrum disorders.