Elizabeth Emken is Vice President, Government Relations at Autism Speaks. Elizabeth joined Autism Speaks in March 2007, and manages the relationship between Autism Speaks and the federal government, state governments, and related agencies. Prior to joining Autism Speaks, Elizabeth was a legislative consultant and board member to Cure Autism Now since 1998. She initially coordinated grassroots advocacy for the first major piece of federal autism legislation, the Advancement in Pediatric Autism Research Act, ultimately becoming the lead title of the Children's Health Act of 2000, which authorized programs at the NIH, CDC, and HRSA totaling more that 200 million over 5 years.

Elizabeth led autism community advocacy for the Combating Autism Act of 2006 on behalf of Cure Autism Now, Autism Speaks, and 17 other leading autism organizations. The Combating Autism Act of 2006 passed in December, 2006, and authorizes nearly 1 billion dollars over the next 5 years to combat autism through research, screening, early detection and early intervention. Current federal legislative priorities include initiatives relative to services and treatment, tax benefits, and global autism assistance.

In 2007, Elizabeth launched a multi-state campaign to secure insurance coverage for autism-related services. Measures have been approved in eight states, including Pennsylvania and Florida, and are pending in over 20 more. Elizabeth has been appointed by Governor Charlie Crist to the Governor's Task Force on Autism Spectrum Disorders, and most recently was one of the Governor's two appointments to Florida's Developmental Disabilities Compact.

Elizabeth graduated from UCLA in 1984, with a degree in Economics and Political Science. Prior to her involvement with Cure Autism Now, Elizabeth's focus was field management and corporate operations at IBM Corporation. She lives in California with her husband of 23 years, Craig Swartz, a Strategist at Microsoft Corporation. They have two daughters, and 16 year old son, Alex, who has autism spectrum disorder.


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Anita Miller Sostek joined Autism Speaks as Vice President of Scientific Review and Operations in September of 2008. In this role, Anita oversees Autism Speaks' Grants Program, which currently processes over 1,000 investigator-initiated grants annually. She is involved in overseeing the review of proposals, the evaluation of progress reports, and financial monitoring of the Science Program. She is also responsible for developing and implementing policies, procedures, and operations for the Science Program.

Anita brings to Autism Speaks an extensive background in early development and scientific peer review. From 1974 to 1987, she was on the faculty of the Department of Pediatrics at Georgetown University studying the developmental outcomes of infants born at risk because of prematurity and/or medical complications around the time of birth. She joined the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1987 to administer peer review in the areas of mental retardation, neurodevelopmental disorders and prematurity. With her 2002 promotion to the position of Director of the Division of Clinical and Population-Based Studies at the Center for Scientific Review at the NIH, Anita was responsible for developing, implementing, and monitoring peer review policy. She worked with more than 70 Scientific Review Officers and their Chiefs to ensure fair and expert review in behavioral science, neuroscience and population-based research. This regularly involved the resolution of complex issues such as appeals and conflicts of interest as well as frequent contact with investigators and NIH staff across many of the 27 Institutes and Centers.

Anita served on several NIH Committees, has won multiple honors and awards, and has edited numerous books. Her most recent recognition consisted of a 2008 NIH Director's Award for Implementation of the Continuous Submission Option for Grant Applications.

Anita received her B.A. in English from New York University, a Masters of Arts in Developmental Psychology from the University of Rochester, and a Ph.D. in Psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She resides in Washington, DC.


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Clara joined Cure Autism Now in June 2003 as AGRE Program Director. Under Clara's leadership, AGRE has reached several landmarks including the acquisition of over 1600 family pedigrees and facilitating research in 15 countries. In September, 2006, Clara was promoted to Director of Clinical Research with responsibility for managing CAN's ATN and CTN programs. She has worked in the field of psychiatric genetics for the last 15 years and has a broad background in basic science and applied clinical research with both child and adult populations.

Over the last two years, Clara has worked closely with program staff at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop bioinformatics tools for the autism field and currently serves as a national advisor for NIH's National Database for Autism Research (NDAR). Clara also has dual appointments at USC's Viterbi School of Engineering where she is Research Assistant Professor and USC's Keck School of Medicine where she is Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics.

Clara attended Tufts University in Boston where she received a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in the History of Medicine. She received her Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis with concentrations in neuroscience and psychopathology. Clara was introduced to genetic research in 1989 when she worked on the Biological Program Project for Schizophrenia at McLean Hospital/Harvard University. Clara is a resident of Long Beach, California.


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Andy Shih, Ph.D., works closely with members of Autism Speaks' Board, Scientific Advisory Committee, senior staff and volunteer leadership to develop and implement the organization's research program. He also oversees the administration of the organization's grant-making process for research. Andy joined the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR) in 2002.

Prior to joining NAAR, Andy had served as an industry consultant and was a member of the faculty at Yeshiva University and New York University Medical Center. He earned his Ph.D. in cellular and molecular biology from New York University Medical Center.

Andy's research background includes published studies in gene identification and characterization, virus-cell interaction, and cell-cycle regulation. He was instrumental in the cloning of a family of small GTPases involved in cell-cycle control and nuclear transport, and holds three patents on nucleic acids-based diagnostics and therapeutics. Andy is a resident of Manhattan, where he lives with his wife and daughter.


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As the national director of leadership giving, Richard Brown is responsible for expanding Autism Speaks' major gifts program. He works closely with volunteer leadership to solicit gifts from individuals and to recruit new volunteer leaders for Autism Speaks. Additionally, Rich is building a national staff structure to extend the major gifts program across the country.

Rich is a 20-year veteran of the not-for-profit world. Most recently, he served as the Executive Director of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's New York City Chapter, where he was responsible for a $10 million annual budget. Prior to his tenure at JDRF, he was the Vice President of Institutional Advancement for SUNY College at Old Westbury. Rich spent nine years with St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, serving in several capacities, including Area Director, where he managed field operations in the eastern half of the U.S.

Rich is an adjunct faculty member at New York University's Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising. He formerly served as board member of the New York City and Long Island Chapter's of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. He is a past Vice-Chairman of Fundraising Day in New York, the largest one-day fundraising conference in the country. He is also past president of the National Voluntary Health Agencies of New York.


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Lisa Gallipoli started as NAAR's National Walk Director in September 2001. Under her tenure the Walk for Autism Research grew from $3 million in annual revenue to over $11 million in 2006. Currently, over fifty annual events take place across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

As the National Director of Field Operations, Lisa will be focusing on the development of the chapter and walk structure for the organization. Part of Autism Speaks' strategic plan is to be in every state with fundraising, awareness, advocacy and outreach. The Walks serve as the base for developing the grassroots support of the organization. The development of a fully realized chapter structure will position the organization with year-round programs and infrastructure.

Lisa started her career with Cerebral Palsy of North Jersey and the American Diabetes Association. Lisa worked as Regional Vice President in northern New Jersey for the American Heart Association for five years. Lisa graduated from Smith College and received a Masters in Public Administration from Seton Hall University in 2001.


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Dana Marnane is the national director of communications and marketing and oversees all aspects of Autism Speaks' communication strategy. She joined the organization in October 2006. Prior to that she spent ten years with national retailer Lord & Taylor in its public relations and special events department. She created and managed the company's charity events, partnering with hundreds of non-profits throughout the country.

Prior to entering retail, Dana served as the Communications Director for U.S. Sailing, the national governing body for the sport of sailing. She is a member of the Executive Committee for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation's Westchester/Fairfield Chapter and resides in Westchester County New York.


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Bill Shea has served as a consultant to Autism Speaks since the organization's inception. In November of 2006 he became a permanent member of the team. As a creative consultant, he played a pivotal role in developing Autism Speaks' multi-year campaign with the Ad Council. In his new role, he will expand the organization's partnership with the Ad Council and will oversee the development of walk-related and other branded marketing materials.

Bill is a 20-year veteran of the advertising community. He spent the last 15 years with McCann Erickson, a leading global advertising agency. Most recently, he was the Group Creative Director responsible for such major advertising campaigns as Major League Baseball's "I Live For This" and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter's "Fabio" campaign.


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Kevin became Director of Interactive Services for Autism Speaks when the organization merged with Cure Autism Now and now leads a talented and diverse team of web professionals. His goal it is to improve and expand the functionality of the Autism Speaks family of sites, online fundraising tools and web communities.

Prior to joining Cure Autism Now in 2004, Kevin spent seven years managing and directing web development for PROMAX&BDA, a global trade organization for electronic media professionals. With an eye toward branding, he designed and implemented a wealth of web sites for the organizations' global events. He joined Cure Autism Now as Manager of Interactive Communications, where he produced and maintained a number of web sites, helped publish the bi-weekly Connections newsletter, and designed logos, ads and e-mails for the organization's programs.

Kevin resides in San Diego, CA with his wife Amy.


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Lisa joined Autism Speaks as the Staff Liaison for the Family Services Committee in June of 2006. In May of 2007 she was appointed Director of Family Services.

Lisa's focus is to provide direction and management of the Family Services program at Autism Speaks, and to serve as the guiding force behind the Family Services mission which is to: 1) empower families and individuals impacted by autism to make informed decisions that maximize the quality of life and development potential of affected individuals; 2) to promote research funding that yields evidence for the best practices in the treatment of autism and associated disorders; and 3) to serve as a catalyst and advocate for the implementation of best practices in autism treatment, education, and services from early intervention through adult care.

Prior work experience includes a 19 year career at Saks Fifth Avenue where she was Vice President, Divisional Merchandise Manager. In addition, she is a past president of her local School Community Association, has participated on many special education committees, is a frequent parent member of the committee on special education in her school district, has presented at several autism conferences, and has worked as a teaching assistant at Nassau Suffolk Services for Autism's Martin C. Barell School. Lisa lives in Manhasset, New York with her husband Paul and two children, one of whom has autism.


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