Welcome to ACE

The Autism Center of Excellence (ACE) and Healthy Infant Development Laboratory is dedicated to discovering the causes of autism and paving the way for more effective autism treatment. We focus on research to help identify what autism looks like in babies as young as 12 months. Our research is completely funded by grants and donations from people like you! Read more.

Donate Here

Concerned Your Child Has Autism?

A recent CDC report (2018) notes that 1 in 59 children born each year will be diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Are you concerned your child might be one of them?

Early warning signs of autism
Request an autism evaluation for your child aged 12-36 months if you live in the greater San Diego area
ASD Prevalence & Statistics provided by the CDC

Health Hero Highlights

Our Center is happy to introduce the Health Hero of the Month! During selected months, we will be highlighting a healthcare staff member within our pediatric network who has demonstrated an outstanding job at identifying early signs of developmental delays and supported their community.

In May, we chose Dr. Eric Reed from SHARP Rees-Stealy Medical Group in La Mesa as the Health Hero of the month!

Click here to read more about Dr. Reed! Dr. Eric Reed

Parent Comments

At a time when we were concerned and anxious to find out more about our son and his needs, ACE was the first resource to evaluate him. When other resources were hindered by waitlists, high costs, and insurance woes - Dr. Carter and her staff were there for us. Her evaluation was incredibly thorough and initiated his early intervention. We are incredibly grateful to ACE and credit them in our son's progress.

- Sarah N.

Dr. Carter and the whole ACE team were key in helping identifying and recommending services to support our son. With Dr. Carter's recommendations, we were able to find an educational environment that has helped our son build and develop key skills that will serve him for a lifetime. We are forever grateful.

- Shannon C.

Click here to read more parent comments.

News & Events

SPARK Assesses the Impact of COVID-19 on its ASD Community

As part of SPARK's mission to advance autism research, our SPARK team distributed a short Coronavirus survey on March 20th to the thousands of families in SPARK. Over 8,000 participants responded. Dr. Joshua Gordon, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, cited the survey's result in a recent message. Take a look at the results of the survey here.

Study Elucidates Link Between a Gene Network and ASD Symptom Severity

A recent genetic study our Center published in Nature Neuroscience uses human iPSC-derived neuron models of ASD to show the degree of dysregulation in a particular gene network is correlated with the severity of ASD symptoms. Read more.

UCSD ACE Selected As A CDC Study Site Through ADDM

CDC
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has selected UCSD ACE as one of only 10 sites in the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network. Our Center will shed light on the number of individuals living with autism and other developmental disabilities in the San Diego community. Click here to learn more about the program.

Sparking a Change: Over 6,000 Individuals Participating in SPARK Through UCSD ACE

SPARK is the largest autism research project in US history, and the mission is simple: speed up research and advance our understanding of autism to help improve lives. To date, over 6,000 participants, including individuals diagnosed with ASD and their family members, have signed up for SPARK through UCSD ACE. Click here to join us today!

NEW Study Shows ASD Diagnoses Stable at 14 Months Old

Results from a recent study led by Dr. Karen Pierce suggest that accurate, reliable screening is possible much earlier than previously thought before. Click here to view CNN news coverage on the study.

Dr. Pierce's Journey With Autism