Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp is a medical

epidemiologist Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...

and chief of the developmental disabilities branch at the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

, where she has worked since 1981. She is also an adjunct assistant professor of pediatrics at

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

. She is the great-niece of

Benjamin Mays Benjamin Elijah Mays (August 1, 1894 – March 28, 1984) was an American Baptist minister and American rights leader who is credited with laying the intellectual foundations of the American civil rights movement. Mays taught and mentored many in ...

, the former president of Morehouse College.

Education

Yeargin-Allsopp was the first African-American student to attend and graduate from Sweet Briar College; she entered the school in 1966, and graduated in 1968. She received her

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. ...

from Emory University in 1972, where she was the first black woman to enroll in the medical school, and completed her residency in

preventive medicine Preventive healthcare, or prophylaxis, consists of measures taken for the purposes of disease prevention.Hugh R. Leavell and E. Gurney Clark as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental hea ...

in 1984. She also completed a fellowship in developmental pediatrics at

Albert Einstein College of Medicine Albert Einstein College of Medicine is a research-intensive medical school located in the Morris Park neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City. Founded in 1953, Einstein operates as an independent degree-granting institution as part of t ...

, where she was affiliated from 1975 to 1981, as well as a pediatric internship and residency at Montefiore Medical Center. She is board-certified in pediatrics and in developmental disabilities.

Career

Yeargin-Allsopp is the chief of the developmental disabilities branch of the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the

(CDC). She has worked with the CDC since 1981. Yeargin-Allsopp is also a former member of

Autism Speaks Autism Speaks Inc. is a controversial autism advocacy organization and the largest autism research organization in the United States. It sponsors autism research and conducts awareness and outreach activities aimed at families, governments, an ...

' scientific advisory board and scientific affairs committee. In addition, she is the chair of the Interagency Coordinating Committee for the

National Children's Study The ''Eunice Kennedy Shriver'' National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) is one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States Department of Health and Human Services. It supports and conducts research ai ...

. In 2008, the American Academy of Pediatrics gave Yeargin-Allsopp the Arnold J. Capute Award for her work in the field of children's disabilities.

Research

Yeargin-Allsopp's research focuses mainly on the epidemiology of autism and other developmental disabilities such as

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sens ...

, especially in urban areas. She was the first to develop a population-based surveillance system to measure the prevalence of such disabilities among school-age children. In 2003, she published results which identified 987 confirmed cases of autism among a group of three- to ten-year-old children in Atlanta, resulting in a prevalence of 34 per 10,000. This rate is much higher than traditional estimates of the disorder, but one textbook still characterizes it as likely underestimating the issue.

References

External links

CDC: One in 150 kids may have autism
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yeargin-Allsopp, Marshalyn African-American academics American pediatricians Women pediatricians American women academics Autism researchers Centers for Disease Control and Prevention people Emory University faculty Emory University School of Medicine alumni American public health doctors Living people Sweet Briar College alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women Women public health doctors