Pediatrician to co-direct KU autism research and training center

LAWRENCE — Dr. Kathryn Ellerbeck, associate professor of pediatrics, has assumed the co-directorship of the Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training (K-CART), headquartered at the University of Kansas Edwards Campus and allied with the Center for Child Health and Development (CCHD) at KU Medical Center, where she is interim director.

Ellerbeck replaces Matthew Reese in both roles at K-CART and the CCHD. Reese retired from KU after 22 years in December.

“Dr. Ellerbeck is a distinguished addition to lead K-CART because of her leadership as a developmental pediatrician and clinical work using an interdisciplinary model for the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorder,” said Debra Kamps, K-CART director and senior scientist.

Ellerbeck has served as a clinician and mentor for hundreds of graduate students, medical students and interns in allied health for more than 15 years at the CCHD, said Kamps.  “Her expertise will contribute to expanding the research agenda for K-CART and our service to families and children with ASD in the community.”

Ellerbeck will continue the work of overseeing K-CART's clinical research efforts in conjunction with her role at the CCHD and in developing partnerships to utilize CCHD’s clinical population and clinical database for other KU and KUMC researchers. 



"I am very excited about how the missions of CCHD and K-CART align to provide opportunities for our families to benefit from the groundbreaking research being done at KU and KUMC,” Ellerbeck said.

Ellerbeck is the immediate past president of the Kansas Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. She is also a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Council of Children with Disabilities’ Autism Subcommittee.

She completed her bachelor’s and medical degrees at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, her M.P.H from Johns Hopkins University and her fellowship in developmental-behavioral pediatrics at the University of Maryland.

K-CART, one of the 13 research centers of the KU Life Span Institute, was launched in 2008 with private and public funds as a multidisciplinary center to promote research and training on the causes, nature and management of autism spectrum disorder.