Bio: Mario J Gaspar de Alba is a board-certified Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrician and Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Section Head of the division of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, and Associate Dean of Diversity and Inclusion at the University Of Nevada Las Vegas School Of Medicine. He is devoted to educating residents and medical students regarding early child development, recognition of deviance from expected development, and the vital importance of early detection and intervention and its impact on future quality of life issues. From 2014 to 2016 he served as the CDC’s Learn the Signs Act Early Ambassador to the state of Nevada. His main interests within the field of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics include autism, learning disabilities, and ADHD. Dr. Gaspar de Alba completed his pediatrics residency at the University of New Mexico Children’s Hospital in Albuquerque, NM during which time he became interested in the field of child development. He went on to complete a subspecialty in Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at the Center for Development and Learning/Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As part of his subspecialty training, he had the opportunity to participate in and complete the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) training program and believes strongly that children with special health care needs are best served through interdisciplinary collaboration and a family focused approach. In the past, he has been a speaker at several professional development and community meetings and at parent organizations in an effort to improve interdisciplinary collaboration and strengthen family support. He continues to strive to create a culture of collaboration in his academic and clinical responsibilities at the school of medicine and in the community. He is currently part of the medical team at The Ackerman Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Solutions; a collaboration between UNLV School of Medicine and the Grant-A-Gift foundation, a local non-profit organization dedicated to serving children and families affected by autism.
Target Populations: Children, School Aged-Children, Teens, Disabled, African American Populations, Hispanic/Latinx Populations, Low Income,
Research/Focal Areas:Children’s Health, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), Other, Neurodevelopmental disability