Shriver Center Leadership

Dr. Broder-Fingert is a professor of pediatrics and implementation scientist who studies early diagnosis and treatment for autistic children as well as children with other developmental, behavioral, and/or mental health disorders. She is Vice Chair for Clinical Research in Pediatrics and Deputy Director at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center at UMass Chan Medical School. She is PI or Co-I on multiple NIH-funded awards focused on testing and/or evaluating the implementation of autism interventions. She is also an active mentor, serving as mentor on multiple NIH-career development awards, and has mentored over 20 pre- and post-doctoral trainees. She has published over 50 peer-reviewed manuscripts, and serves as an editor for the journal Autism.

In addition to her role as Executive Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center, Dr. Jean Frazier holds the Robert M. and Shirley S. Siff Chair in Autism and is a tenured Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. She is an affiliated faculty member of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in both the Neuroscience Program and in Clinical and Population Health Research.  As Co-Director of the Child and Adolescent Neurodevelopment Initiative (CANDI), Dr. Frazier directs a broad research program that addresses a variety of scientific problems relevant to advancing the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and Fragile X syndrome. In addition, her team is actively involved in an ongoing longitudinal research project that assesses the predictors of long term neurodevelopmental and health outcomes in individuals who were born extremely preterm.   Dr. Frazier graduated from Dartmouth Medical School and is board certified in Psychiatry, and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Her clinical interests include Autism spectrum disorders, Fragile X Syndrome, neurodevelopmental outcomes in individuals born extremely preterm, neuroimaging and psychopharmacology.   With expertise in Child Psychopharmacology, Autism, and Child Psychiatry, Dr. Frazier has published 159 peer-reviewed journal articles and 27 book chapters. In addition, she has received numerous honors and awards, including:  

• Distinguished Fellow, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (2016)
• Women in Science and Health Achievement Award, UMMS (2016)
• Fellow, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (2015)
• Steven Banks Award for Research Mentoring, UMMS Department of Psychiatry (2013)
• Top Doctors, U. S. News & World Report (2012-2016)
• Best Doctors in America (2010-2020)
• New England Educational Institute’s Outstanding Educator Award for Mental Health Education (2006)
• Distinguished Fellow, American Psychiatric Association (2006)
• Massachusetts Psychiatric Society-Outstanding Psychiatrist Award for Research (2003)
• National Alliance For The Mentally Ill- Annual Exemplary Psychiatrist Award (2002)

Dr. Lauer is the Director of the Center for Developmental Disabilities Evaluation and Research (CDDER) at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center and an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health.  She is also the Associate Director of Shriver’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD). Dr. Lauer has dedicated her career to applied research, evaluation and policy efforts to improve the health and well-being of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and other vulnerable populations. Her work focuses on health and risk surveillance and systemic quality improvement for these populations.  Dr. Lauer works at the state, national and international levels with public and private service agencies to apply a data-driven approach to improving outcomes for people with disabilities.  Dr. Lauer works closely with state and provider agencies to help them understand and utilize health and risk related data about their service recipients. In particular, Dr. Lauer is an expert in analyses of mortality, health services research and in the use of administrative data to understand and improve public health.  Dr. Lauer has also lent guidance to numerous organizations on methods to refine data collection and analytic practices in order to improve the quality of information gathered and validity in benchmarking with other sources.   Dr. Lauer has worked on numerous grants to advance efforts for state and national health surveillance strategies for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Health Resources and Services Administration.  Dr. Lauer has a PhD in Sociology with a focus on Medical Sociology at the University of Massachusetts Boston and was the 2022 recipient of the James E. Blackwell Prize in Applied Sociology for her dissertation. She also has a Master’s degree in Public Health focusing in Biostatistics from the UMDNJ/Rutgers School of Public Health and received Stuart D. Cook Public Health Research Award for her fieldwork in factors predicting medication errors in adults with I/DD. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Boston University.