Scientific and Clinical Advisory Council
SafeMinds Scientific & Clinical Advisory Council is comprised of clinicians, health professionals, and scientists from a variety of disciplines, including, among others, specialists and experts in autism, environment, toxicology, pediatrics, neuroscience, pharmacology, and psychology.
José G. Dórea, Ph.D.
Professor of Nutritional Sciences, University of Brasília
A graduate of the University of Pernambuco with advanced degrees from the University of Massachusetts (MSc and PhD), Dr. Dorea has worked at Iowa State University (USA), University of Hawaii (USA), and University of Campinas (Brazil). He has authored numerous book chapters, and has published on infant nutrition and the environmental impact of toxic (natural and man made) substances on the growth and development of children. Dr. Dorea is on the editorial board of peer-reviewed scientific journals, and has authored and co-authored more than 180 papers in journals of public health, medical and environmental sciences, toxicology, and pharmacology.
Cindy Schneider, MD
Medical Director, Center for Autism Research and Education
Dr. Schneider is the Medical Director of CARE, the Center for Autism Research and Education. Her integrative medical practice is exclusively dedicated to individuals with autism and related neurological and immune disorders. Dr. Schneider’s areas of special interest include treatment of the immune, gastrointestinal, and metabolic aspects of autism and the identification of environmental toxins contributing to the autism epidemic. She has designed and implemented multiple research studies, and collaborated with researchers worldwide. Dr. Schneider’s priorities in both her medical practice and her research include the identification of the causes of autism, the formulation of effective treatment protocols, and the prevention of autism in future generations.
Dr. Schneider has served as a member of the Defeat Autism Now! think tank since 1997, and serves on the Clinician Advisory Committee at the Autism Research Institute. She was the founding president and medical director of two nonprofit organizations for autism research, and is a medical advisor for SafeMinds. Dr. Schneider has published extensively in the areas of genetic vulnerability to environmental toxins, and innovative treatments for the gastrointestinal and immune complications of autism.
As the mother of two children with autism and a leading authority in the field, Dr. Schneider closely tracks developments in autism research, and provides both a medical and personal assessment of current and promising treatment options.
Robert Sears, M.D.
Robert W. Sears, MD, FAAP, is a board-certified pediatrician in a full-time private practice in Dana Point, Calif. He received his medical degree from Georgetown University, and did his pediatric residency training at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. “Dr. Bob,” as he likes to be called by his little patients, provides a unique blend of mainstream and integrative medical care. He is a co-author in the Sears Parenting Library, including The Baby Book and The Portable Pediatrician, and is the author of The Vaccine Book, The Autism Book, and HappyBaby: The Organic Guide to Baby’s First 24 Months. Dr. Bob has appeared on Dr. Oz, The Doctors, CNN, CBS Early Show, Fox Morning News, and Dr. Phil discussg parenting advice and pediatric health issues. He is a frequent speaker at parenting conferences, and serves on the medical advisory board for various organizations, including Talk About Curing Autism, Autism Care and Treatment Today, HappyBaby Organic Baby Food, and Kaplan University Department of Health Sciences. Dr. Bob is a contributor to AskDrSears.com, and regularly answers questions on his Mothering.com Ask the Experts forum.
Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities at Risk for Severe COVID-19 Outcomes
Patients with Autism Spectrum Disorders Had Longer Hospital Stays According to a new analysis published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who have intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are at increased risk for severe COVID-19 outcomes compared to patients without IDD. The study investigated hospitalized COVID-19 patients, with IDD and […]
Economic Evaluation of School-Based LEGO Therapy
Report Shows Therapy Marginally Decreased Service Costs While Improving Quality of Life In 2003, clinical neuropsychologist Dr. Daniel LeGoff experimented with the thought of developing a social skills therapy utilizing LEGO bricks. He came up with this idea due to the natural attraction children with autism have to the brightly colored building toys. A year […]
Is Early Life Exposure to Air Pollution Associated with the Onset of Autism?
Review Searches for Vulnerable Subpopulations In the past decade and a half, more than 30 papers have examined the link between air pollution and the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Recently, a new systematic review has examined 19 of these papers in an effort to investigate how ASD susceptibility to air pollution varied among […]
Microbiome’s Influence on the Etiology of Autism is Far From Settled
New Response Suggests “Picky Eating” Isn’t Only Reason for Differences in Gut Microbiota An Australian study released last November claimed that gut health was in “no way a cause of why the brain develops differently” in individuals with autism. Moreover, lead author Chloe Yap and her colleagues concluded in their study that any observed microbiome […]
Oxygen Enriched Air Delivers a Beneficial Effect for Those with Depression
“Normobaric” Oxygen is Different from Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment Individuals with autism are four times as likely to experience depression compared to people without the disorder. Given this statistic, a new pilot trial out of Israel is particularly relevant for the autism community. In the study, Israeli researchers discovered that treating mild to moderately depressed individuals […]
Infections During Pregnancy May Affect Fetus’ Brain Development and Primes Immune System for Inflammatory Attacks
Researchers May Have Found the Missing Link Between ASD and the Gut-Brain Connection Through the use of mouse models, researchers from Harvard Medical School and MIT may have discovered the connection between autism and gut-brain dysfunction. The scientists behind this study found that infections during pregnancy can lead to high levels of the inflammatory signaling […]
