Biography

Dr. Jeste is a behavioral child neurologist specializing in autism and related neurodevelopmental disorders. She is an Assistant Professor in Psychiatry and Neurology in the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, and a lead investigator within UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment (CART). After earning a BA in philosophy from Yale University in 1997 and her MD from Harvard Medical School in 2002, Dr. Jeste completed a residency in child neurology and a fellowship in behavioral child neurology at Children’s Hospital, Boston. She then pursued post-doctoral training in developmental cognitive neuroscience with Dr. Charles Nelson at Harvard Medical School, where she gained expertise in the use of high-density electroencephalography (EEG) to characterize functional brain development in infancy and early childhood, particularly as it informs atypical development. She was recruited to UCLA CART in 2010 as the director of its electrophysiology core. CART has played a leading role nationally and internationally in developing an improved understanding of the biological and psychosocial basis of autism and is the only center to be awarded an NIH Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE) grant twice, first in 2007 and then in 2012. Dr. Jeste’s research is focused on the use of novel electrophysiological biomarkers to better define early predictors of autism and to define more homogeneous, brain-based subgroups within the autism spectrum in order to inform treatment targets. Within this framework, she has been investigating and treating infants and children with neurogenetic syndromes associated with autism. As the lead investigator on a large study of development in infants with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC), Dr. Jeste has designed innovative studies in early predictors of autism to focus on the integration of biomarkers with behavior to define atypical development prior to the onset of clinical symptoms of autism. In the last two years she has begun to study and treat children with Dup15q syndrome, and last year she established a Dup15q clinic at UCLA, through which she has already evaluated and/or treated more than 20 children. This research in Dup15q syndrome will now be supported by a new Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC) grant, led by Dr. Susan Bookheimer. Dr. Jeste has been the recipient of the Child Neurology Foundation’s Researcher-in- Training Award and the American Academy of Neurology’s (AAN) Clinical Researcher-in-Training Award. She also was selected in 2014 as a member of the AAN Emerging Leaders Forum. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Child Neurology Foundation and the AAN Science Committee. Her research is currently funded by the National Institutes of Health, an NIMH K23, an NICHD Autism Center of Excellence grant, an NIMH Autism Center of Excellence Network grant, the Department of Defense and the Dup15q Alliance.

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