Dr. Elizabeth Kelley

Dr. Elizabeth (Beth) Kelley is an Associate Professor of Psychology, the Chair of Developmental Psychology, and a Member of the Centre for Neuroscience Studies at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.  She is a member of the Canadian Consortium for Applied Research in Autism, as well as the Canadian Autism Research Training Project.  Her research has been listed as one of the top ten findings in Autism research by Autism Speaks in 2008, 2012, and 2013, as well as being listed as one of the top research findings by the US Department of Health and Human Services in 2009.

Dr. Kelley worked one-on-one with individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) for approximately 12 years before realizing that she may be able to do more good for more people by returning to school and doing research.  She received her doctorate in 2006 from the University of Connecticut under the supervision of Dr. Deborah Fein.  After finishing her doctorate, she began working at Queen’s.  Her research interests focus primarily on how the early-appearing core social deficits in ASD cascade into later difficulties with many aspects of development, including (but not limited to) language development, attention and cognitive skills, and social development including friendships and experiences with being bullied by one’s peers.  She is also involved with a large-scale longitudinal study investigating optimal outcomes in individuals with ASD, that is, individuals who are diagnosed with ASD in early childhood but no longer meet criteria for the disorder later in childhood or adolescence.