Dr. John Strang is a clinical neuropsychologist and senior scientist at the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). His research is dedicated to the health and well-being of autistic and neurodivergent people, including those diagnosed later in life. His scholarship has helped advance clinical knowledge and community understanding of the common intersection of 2SLGBTQ+ identities and autism.
He maintains a co-appointment as Principal Investigator at Children's National Hospital, where he founded and directed the Gender and Autism Program, and is tenured Associate Professor at George Washington University School of Medicine. Since his U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Career Development (K) Award, he has led and co-led multiple NIH-funded studies, in collaboration with geneticists, neuroimagers, and autistic and neurodivergent communities.
He is a co-author of the Unstuck and On Target! executive function curricula for adolescents and young adults. He is grateful for Canada's support of research with underrepresented communities.
Areas of Research:
- Late and missed autism diagnosis: Key autistic features can go unrecognized in childhood. This work asks who is missed and why, and how to support adults awaiting assessment.
- 2SLGBTQ+ identities and neurodivergence: Autistic and neurodivergent people are substantially more likely than the general population to be 2SLGBTQ+, and 2SLGBTQ+ people are likewise more likely to be autistic or neurodivergent. Research at this common intersection may illuminate something of the nature of autism itself, especially among later-diagnosed individuals, and clarify how gender and sexuality diversity shape the care experiences and needs of neurodivergent people.
- Precision mental healthcare: Mental health research has long examined differences by assigned sex, and the stressors 2SLGBTQ+ people face. Far less is known about how gender, sexuality, and sex intersect to shape distinct patterns of risk and resilience, including factors beyond external stigma. Clarifying these patterns is a critical step toward precision mental healthcare.
- Learning across borders: Looking beyond single nations, cross-national research can identify how policies and health systems shape stigma, stress ,and health for 2SLGBTQ+, autistic, and neurodivergent people.
- Executive function intervention: Executive functions are the cognitive skills underlying flexible, planful, and big-picture thinking. These skills are most needed in adulthood, as they support career development, independent living, and relationships. Building on collaborative intervention research with adolescents and young adults, we seek new ways to design and deliver EF supports across adulthood.
- Centering autistic and neurodivergent perspectives: Research has relied largely on others reporting about autistic and neurodivergent people. Co-creating self-report user-friendly measures with autistic and neurodivergent people may give them a greater say in their own care.
Publications
View Dr. Strang's publications on Google Scholar.