Chandni Shah

Chandni Shah graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience and minors in chemistry and healthcare management.  After graduation, she worked as a clinical research coordinator at Penn Medicine, where she studied and helped carry out a novel social-functioning program for adults on the autism spectrum.  She focused on developing methods of outreach to diverse groups in the autism community in the hope of increasing access and equity in autism research.  Chandni also has experience conducting insomnia and mindfulness research; her study was accepted for poster presentation at the 2022 Associated Professional Sleep Societies Conference and its abstract has been published in SLEEP.  Research has been at the core of her academic career thus far.  In fact, Chandni has been able to work on seven studies and move toward the publication of four papers (of which she is the primary author of three).  She hopes to leverage clinical research to make significant positive changes in the medical field.  Her hobbies include dancing, playing the violin and clarinet, and writing slam poetry.

Research studies have shown that in India, there is a significant delay between the first recognition of symptoms to the actual initiation of treatment for autism spectrum disorder (ASD); this is detrimental to the development of a child on the autism spectrum.

Although scientific literature reveals these delays exist, there is little research exploring the causes behind such delays.  Chandni’s Fulbright-Nehru project, while filling these research gaps, is identifying the barriers that prevent families from receiving early ASD diagnoses and interventions.  She is also investigating the mental well-being of the caregivers of children on the autism spectrum.