Bio:
Giacomo Vivanti, PhD, graduated magna cum laude in Psychology from University of Milan and received a doctoral degree in Cognitive Science from the University of Siena, Italy, in 2008. During 2008-2010 he received postdoctoral fellowship training on autism at the University of California Davis MIND Institute, and in 2010 he became Research Fellow at the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre in Melbourne, Australia, where he worked on a federally funded 5-year project on autism early intervention. His career as a scientist has been driven by a key-commitment, namely understanding the nature of learning difficulties in autism and developing effective programs to address such difficulties within community-based settings. This commitment reflects his life experience of growing up with two brothers affected by autism, as well as his diverse clinical and research background.
Vivanti is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, a member of the Italian Department of the Health Committee to establish evidence-based guidelines for autism treatment in Italy, and a consultant for clinical and research programs for Autism in the US, Europe and Australia. Additionally, he is a certified therapist and trainer in the “Early Start Denver Model” autism intervention program, a member of the Early Start Denver Model Training Advisory Group, and the lead author of the manual “Implementing the Group-Based Early Start Denver Model for young children with Autism.” Vivanti is now associate professor in the Early Detection and Intervention research program at the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, and an assistant professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Drexel University.