IEC Welcomes New Board Member Dena Gassner, MSW; Ph.D. Candidate

Dena Gassner joins the IEC Board of Directors, bringing high levels of professional expertise grown from a lifetime of systems navigation on behalf of her son who is autistic. In her role as an autistic scholar, she is engaged in research as an appointed member of the Review Board for the Autism Intervention Research Network in Physical Health and is a member of the AIR-P Gender, Sexuality, and Healthcare Node with UCLA. She is in her third PCORI project with Drs. Teal Benevides and Brenna Maddox comparing mindfulness and adapted CBT for suicide prevention. She is an appointed member of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC). Gassner is an Adjunct Professor at Towson University and in 1999, she was awarded the Cathy Pratt Professional of the Year Award from Autism Society of America. She seeks to live a life of service and authentic autistic transparency.

IEC is proud that individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) make up one-quarter of our Board, bringing invaluable lived experience and insight to our governance and every aspect of our work. Read Dena Gassner’s full bio here.