Education
Ph.D. in Pharmacology (1986)
University of California Los Angeles
Dr. Chugani founded the Children’s Hospital Autism Center in 2008. The aim of Dr. Chugani’s research is to discover mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of autism and to design and test new treatments based upon the research findings. A combination of approaches is employed and includes imaging studies, genetic studies and pharmacological studies. Her PET studies of serotonin synthesis in children with autism identified differences in developmental changes in brain serotonin synthesis in young autistic compared to non-autistic children. Based upon these results, Dr. Chugani conducted a pharmacokinetic, safety and efficacy trial of a serotonergic drug in young autistic children (funded by NICHD through the Pediatric Pharmacology Research Unit network). Based upon the preliminary findings of that study, Dr. Chugani was recently awarded an Autism Center of Excellence Network Grant (NINDS) to further test this novel treatment.