Dr. Jeste is a behavioral child neurologist with advanced training in electrophysiological methods that can facilitate the identification of functional biomarkers of neurodevelopmental and neurogenetic disorders, particularly with regard to clinical stratification, risk prediction and treatment targets. The Jeste lab serves as the Neurophysiology Core of the UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment and, recently, she launched a Developmental Neurogenetics Clinic through the Department of Psychiatry, with the goal of enhancing clinical and research efforts in rare genetic variants and syndromes associated with neurodevelopmental disorders.
Dr. Jeste's clinical experiences inform and inspire the research in her lab, which is guided by the mission of precision in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of infants and children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Such precision relies on the identification of biologically based phenotypes within the heterogeneous spectrum of neurodevelopmental disorders, as only through the elucidation of mechanisms of atypical development can we design and implement targeted, personalized interventions for these children.
The Jeste Lab is particularly focused on children with comorbid intellectual disability, limited language abilities, and children with known genetic syndromes that confer a high risk for ASD. These children are often understudied because of their limited ability to complete standardized or behavioral testing, and EEG can greatly enhance our understanding of their clinicial profiles. In the last three years we have studied hundreds of infants and children with neurodevelopmental disabilities, from 3 months to 18 years of age!
Our research is funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, Autism Speaks, and the Dup15q Alliance.
