Gail Chödrön, PhD
Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Gail Chödrön, PhD, is an Assistant Scientist at the Waisman Center University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) in Madison, WI, where she serves as the WI LEND Training Director and UCEDD Community Training and Technical Assistance Coordinator.
In addition to having degrees in anthropology and public health, Dr. Chödrön is a parent and sibling of individuals with developmental and neurological disorders. Since she joined the Waisman Center as a LEND and UCEDD Trainee in 2007, her family experience has driven the focus of her research, evaluation, and implementation efforts. Her current projects focus on early identification, access to services and supports among families experiencing social and economic marginalization, and community-based approaches to achieving health equity among families of children with or at risk for autism and other developmental disabilities.
Dr. Chödrön has been actively engaged in Wisconsin's Act Early initiatives for 12 years, and has led or co-led grants and sponsored projects from the National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, the Disability Research and Dissemination Center, the Health Resources and Services Administration, and Institutes for Health Care Improvement that address pathways to access for autism services and supports. Through her role as the CDC's Act Early Ambassador to Wisconsin (2011-2019) and state lead for Wisconsin's Act Early State Team, she has collaborated extensively with stakeholders in primary and specialty care, early care and education, early intervention, and family support to improve early identification systems. She is frequently sought after to assist childcare, Head Start/Early Head Start, home visiting, health care, and public health programs in implementing family engaged developmental monitoring.