Jason Wolff, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Psychology, has been awarded a McKnight Presidential Fellowship, a three-year, University wide award given to the most promising individuals being reviewed for promotion to associate professor with tenure in an academic year.

As a McKnight Presidential Fellow, Wolff will receive $15,000 a year for research and scholarly activities and will carry the title for three years.

Wolff’s expertise focuses on early brain and behavioral development in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and related developmental disabilities, such as fragile X syndrome. He is currently leading a study to better understand repetitive behaviors and sensory features associated with ASD.

Wolff is most well known for his work—with colleagues across the country, including Jed Elison in the Institute of Child Development—identifying autism biomarkers in infants. Their research used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in infants with older siblings with autism to predict which infants would later meet criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at two years of age, with 80 percent accuracy.

Wolff and the other winners of this year’s McKnight University Fellowships will be recognized at a Board of Regents meeting in Spring 2019 and honored at a celebratory dinner.