The Start Up Team is a group of dedicated parents and researchers committed to collaborating about autism research to promote research and advance knowledge in the field.
Connie Putterman: Founder, Facilitator, Parent Advocate, Toronto
For twenty years, Connie has focussed her professional efforts on connecting people, all with a view towards promoting innovation, development, business strategies and new ideas. In facilitating these goals, Connie has managed conferences, developed programming, managed skills development, and generally helped facilitate business opportunities.
She has worked for the Ontario government in business development, bringing university research, industrial research partners and companies together to expand university research goals. She has worked in human resources in the banking industry, and more recently as a consultant on her own. She has advocated for, helped develop and design and train for new programs and initiatives in the Autism Spectrum Disorder community and the Autism research community in Toronto, across Canada, and internationally. She prides herself on bringing people together to further causes she is passionate about. She has also volunteered significant time to not-for-profit boards and committees, including Autism Care Ontario, the Danny Grossman Dance Company, and Canadian Friends of Hebrew University, among many others.
Connie studied her MBA at the University of Western Ontario in London Ontario after completing a B.A. from University College, at the University of Toronto.
Connie currently lives with her husband and two children in Toronto, Ontario.
Dr. Michal Begin, Founder, Developmental Pediatrician, Researcher, Jerusalem
Michal Begin is a developmental pediatrician, currently working as a developmental pediatrician at the NF1 clinic at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel. She is also the director of the regional child developmental services for a public health provider “Leumit Health Services”, serving children from diverse backgrounds in the Jerusalem vicinity. She is the PI in two studies on Autism: “Post-natal CXCR4 levels in preterm infants with diagnosis of ASD: Correlation of CXCR4 expression in premature infants with a diagnosis of ASD at 18 months” which is focused on a potential biomarker for ASD in premature infants, who are at highr risk for ASD, and “Deep RTMS (Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) for Treatment of Autism Symptoms in Children” which is focused on novel therapy for ASD.
