Rutgers Brain Health Institute Recruits World-Renowned Autism Expert
Sara Jane Webb is appointed as director of Rutgers Center for Autism Research, Education and Services
The Rutgers Brain Health Institute has recruited Sara Jane Webb as director of the Rutgers Center for Autism Research, Education and Services (RUCARES).
Webb succeeds inaugural director Wayne Fisher and will join Rutgers in April.
RUCARES is a center within the Brain Health Institute dedicated to coordinating and advancing autism research, education and services across the university. The center includes the Severe Behavior Program directed by Brian Greer, a one-of-a-kind research-informed clinical care program for children with severe behavior disorders.
“We are delighted to bring Sara Jane Webb to the Brain Health Institute to lead RUCARES. Her work advancing autism biomarker science and translational research positions our center to build stronger cross‑campus collaborations, bridge laboratory discovery to real‑world support and expand meaningful resources for autistic children, adults and families across New Jersey,” said Gary Aston‑Jones, director of the Brain Health Institute.
Webb is a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle and is affiliated with the Center on Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. She brings more than two decades of leadership experience, including serving as director of autism research at Seattle Children’s Autism Center, associate director and clinical translational core director of the National Institutes of Health-funded P50 Center on Intellectual and Developmental Disability Research at the University of Washington and chair of the University of Washington School of Medicine Council on Research and Graduate Education.
Webb earned her bachelor of arts degree in psychology from Yale University and her doctoral degree in child psychology from the University of Minnesota. She completed her postdoctoral training at the Institute on Human Development and Disability at the University of Washington.
“I am excited about the possibility of creating more collaborations and a bigger hub for autism research, integrating research into clinical care and bringing together the researchers and clinicians across Rutgers with the power and support of the New Jersey autistic community to create a central hub for autism scientific thought,” Webb said.
She also has held scientific leadership roles in scientific societies, federal agencies and philanthropic organizations, including the International Society for Autism Research, the Autism Baby Siblings Research Consortium, the NIH Biomarkers Consortium, the Simons Foundation, the Eagles Autism Foundation, Aligning Research to Impact Autism network, the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.
A nationally recognized expert in autism diagnosis and biomarker development, Webb pioneered the identification of early neural and behavioral markers of autism. Her research integrates novel electrophysiology, eye-tracking and longitudinal developmental methods to map trajectories from infancy through adulthood. Her work on social communication and face perception has shaped foundational paradigms for studying the developing social brain in autism.
Her work advancing autism biomarker science and translational research positions our center to build stronger cross‑campus collaborations, bridge laboratory discovery to real‑world support and expand meaningful resources for autistic children, adults and families across New Jersey.
Gary Aston‑Jones
Director, Brain Health Institute
Webb has contributed to large multisite biomarker initiatives and novel drug clinical trials, and her research has informed early identification and intervention strategies. She also brings experience collaborating with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration through the Biomarker Quantification Program.
Since beginning her independent research career, Webb has secured more than $28 million in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health. She and collaborators have also received multi-million-dollar awards from private foundations, most recently a $17 million award to join the Aligning Research to Impact Autism – Innovative Medicine and Precision Approaches to Clinical Trials (ARIA IMPACT) Network.
In her new role, Webb will lead efforts to expand RUCARES impact across research, education and clinical services. She will advance the center’s mission by strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration, enhancing translational research, supporting faculty development and expanding externally funded research programs.
Drawing on her deep expertise in diagnostic biomarkers and early intervention, Webb will help strengthen research-informed clinical services and support the development of innovative approaches to autism diagnosis and patient stratification. Her extensive experience with federal, state and private partners, combined with a strong track record of successful grant writing and faculty mentoring, will further position Rutgers to recruit and train the next generation of autism researchers while advancing leadership in autism research and service delivery at the state and national levels.
