Elizabeth Laugeson

Dr. Liz Laugeson is a licensed clinical psychologist and an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. Dr. Laugeson is the Director of The Help Group – UCLA Autism Research Alliance, which is a collaborative research initiative between The Help Group and the UCLA Semel Institute, dedicated to developing and expanding applied clinical research in the treatment of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. She is also the Founder and Director of the UCLA PEERS Clinic (www.semel.ucla.edu/peers/), which is an outpatient program providing parent-assisted social skills training for adolescents and young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders, as well as youth with ADHD, depression, anxiety, and other social impairments. Dr. Laugeson has been a principal investigator and collaborator on a number of NIH and CDC-funded studies investigating social skills training for children and adolescents with developmental disabilities from preschool to late adolescence and is the co-author of an evidence-based social skills treatment manual for teens known as PEERS (http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415872034/). She was the two-time recipient of the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the NIH from 2004-2007, recipient of the Semel Scholar Award for Junior Faculty Career Development in 2008, and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Pepperdine University in 2010. Dr. Laugeson has presented her research at international conferences throughout the world including the U.S., England, Italy, Canada, and Australia. Her work has been featured on national and international media outlets such as People Magazine, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Post, CBS, NBC, and Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. She joined the UCLA faculty in 2007.

Publications