The Autism Child and Family Lab investigates how individual and contextual factors shape developmental outcomes in young autistic children. Our work is grounded in transactional models of development, with a focus on family accommodation of restricted and repetitive behaviors, caregiver–child interaction, and emotion regulation.
As part of the Azrieli National Centre for Autism and Neurodevelopment Research, we operate a diagnostic clinic that serves families from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds in the community. Our lab also leads the Israeli site of the international Pediatric Autism Research Cohort (PARC) Study, a multi-site initiative tracking developmental and adaptive trajectories over time.
We are a diverse team, both ethnically and neurologically, committed to collaborative, community-engaged research with real-world impact. Our goal is to generate knowledge that translates into improved quality of life for autistic children and the people who care for them.
People
Dr. Judah Koller
I am a clinical child psychologist and assistant professor in the Seymour Fox School of Education at Hebrew University, where I chair the graduate program in special education and am a founder and associate director of the Autism Center. I am a member of the expert committee on autism that advises the Israeli Ministry of Health, the advisory committee for Hebrew University's Center for Disability Studies and the advisory committee for the Autism Center at Ben Gurion University.
I joined the faculty here after completing my postdoctoral fellowship with Kasia Chawarska at the Yale Child Study Center. Prior to that, I finished my doctorate in clinical child/school psychology with a specialization in infancy and early childhood at Ferkauf Graduate School for Psychology, Yeshiva University.
My work focuses on young children with autism, their families, and mechanisms of support.
Every once in a while I blog here about autism and disabilities.
Graduate Students
Shani Wismel
Amjed Shoughry
Tamar David
Linoy Levi
Dr. Judah Koller is an assistant professor in the Seymour Fox School of Education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he heads the Autism Child and Family Lab. He also serves as Director of the Jerusalem region of the Azrieli National Centre for Autism and Neurodevelopment Research. Judah has served as chair of the graduate program in Special Education and currently sits on national committees shaping autism diagnostic standards in Israel.
Trained as a clinical child and school psychologist with a specialization in early development, infant and community mental health, and autism (Yeshiva University; postdoctoral fellowship at Yale Child Study Center), his research focuses on developmental and contextual influences on the functioning of autistic children, with a particular emphasis on family accommodation and parent-mediated interventions.
Judah's work has been supported by national and international funders, including the Azrieli Foundation, the Israeli Ministry of Education, the Aviv Foundation, and the Joseph Levy Foundation. He is deeply committed to translational research that bridges science, clinical practice, and policy to improve outcomes for autistic children and their families.
Dr. Judah Koller, lab PI
People
Ongoing Research
At the heart of our lab is a no-cost diagnostic clinic, providing an essential service to the community and serving as the basis for much of our research.
In this context, children receive fully recognized, gold-standard developmental and diagnostic evaluations. The assessment incorporates both standardized and experimental measures, allowing us to examine specific child, parent, and systemic variables, which interact with development and may serve as ports of entry into supporting autistic children and their families. We conduct these evaluations in Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, and English.
More information is here.
Selected Recent Publications
David Cohen, T., Koller, J., Duku, E., Kata, A., Anderson, C., Bennett, T., Cauwenbergs, A., Dekker, K., Di Rezze, B., Drmic, I., Eerkes, J., Gentles, S. J., Georgiades, K., Hoult, L., Kraus De Camargo, O., Mahoney, W., Mesterman, R., Ng, O., Robertson, S., Roncadin, C., Rosenbaum, P., and Georgiades, S. (2024). Brief Report: Pilot findings from the PARC Study: The interaction between autism symptomatology and adaptive functioning over a six-month period. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disabilities
Rozenblat, S., Shimshoni, Y., Lebowitz, E., Perez, M., & Koller, J. (2023). A pilot trial of SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions) in autism. Child Psychiatry & Human Development
Graucher, T., Sinai-Gavrilov, Y., Mor, Y., Netzer, S., Cohen, E., Levi, L., Birenboim, T., & Koller, J. (2022). From clinic room to zoom: Delivery of an evidence-based, parent-mediated intervention in the community before and during the pandemic. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disabilities.doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05592-1
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