Joseph Piven

Professor
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Joseph Piven is Thomas E. Castelloe Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and director of the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is also director of the NIH Autism Center of Excellence Network’s Infant Brain Imaging Study (IBIS). He served on the American Psychiatric Association committee that wrote the new definition of autism spectrum disorder for the DSM-5.

From this contributor

Explore more from The Transmitter

Research image of brain cells involved with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) illuminated through genetic tools

Allen Institute sets sights on treatments for five brain diseases

The Brain Health Accelerator program aims to harness single-cell transcriptomics and cell-type-specific genetic tools to develop treatments for Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases, Lewy body dementia and ALS.

By Calli McMurray
2 June 2026 | 5 min read
Illustration of spiny mouse.

Learning why spiny mice play well with others

Aubrey Kelly studies the gregarious mammal to explore how the brain controls complex social behaviors “akin to friendship.”

By Hannah Thomasy
2 June 2026 | 5 min read
Research image of human thalamus.

Autism-linked genes expressed in thalamus make an impact, and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 1 June.

By Jill Adams
2 June 2026 | 2 min read