Warren R. Jones, PhD

Warren Jones headshot

Director of Research

Norman Nien Distinguished Chair in Autism, Associate Professor, Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics

Warren Jones, PhD, is the Director of Research at Marcus Autism Center. Dr. Jones is also the Norman Nien Distinguished Chair in Autism and an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine.

Dr. Jones completed his doctorate in neuroscience at Yale University. He currently directs the Social Neuroscience Laboratory at Marcus Autism Center. In addition, he is a core faculty member at the Emory Center for Translational Social Neuroscience.

Research in the Social Neuroscience Laboratory focuses on mapping and quantifying the developmental course of social disability in autism from birth through young adulthood. The goal of this research is to understand the origins and development of autism and to inform better treatment practices by developing tools for objective early diagnosis and prediction of outcome for individuals with autism.

Publications (Selected)

 

  • Jones W, Klaiman C, Richardson S, et al. Performance of Eye-Tracking-Based Measurement of Social Visual Engagement Compared with Expert Clinical Diagnosis of Autism: A Multi-Site Study. In Press.
  • Jones W, Klaiman C, Richardson S, et al. Development and Replication of Objective Measurements of Social Visual Engagement to Aid in Early Diagnosis and Assessment of Autism. In Press.
  • Klaiman, C., White, S., Richardson, S., McQueen, E., Walum, H., Aoki, C., Smith, C., Minjarez, M., Bernier, R., Pedapati, E., Bishop, S., Ence, W., Wainer, A., Moriuchi, J., Tay, S. W., Deng, Y., Jones, W., Gillespie, S., & Klin, A. (2022). Expert Clinician Certainty in Diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorder in 16-30-Month-Olds: A Multi-site Trial Secondary Analysis. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 1–16.
  • Lense, M. D., Shultz, S., Astésano, C., & Jones, W. (2022). Music of infant-directed singing entrains infants' social visual behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America119(45), e2116967119.
  • Habayeb, S., Tsang, T., Saulnier, C., Klaiman, C., Jones, W., Klin, A., & Edwards, L. A. (2021). Visual Traces of Language Acquisition in Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorder During the Second Year of Life. Journal of autism and developmental disorders51(7), 2519–2530.
  • Klin, A., Micheletti, M., Klaiman, C., Shultz, S., Constantino, J. N., & Jones, W. (2020). Affording autism an early brain development re-definition. Development and psychopathology32(4), 1175–1189.
  • Li, L., Bachevalier, J., Hu, X., Klin, A., Preuss, T. M., Shultz, S., & Jones, W. (2018). Topology of the Structural Social Brain Network in Typical Adults. Brain connectivity8(9), 537–548.
  • Shultz, S., Klin, A., & Jones, W. (2018). Neonatal Transitions in Social Behavior and Their Implications for Autism. Trends in cognitive sciences22(5), 452–469.
  • Constantino, J. N., Kennon-McGill, S., Weichselbaum, C., Marrus, N., Haider, A., Glowinski, A. L., Gillespie, S., Klaiman, C., Klin, A., & Jones, W. (2017). Infant viewing of social scenes is under genetic control and is atypical in autism. Nature547(7663), 340–344.
  • Moriuchi, J. M., Klin, A., & Jones, W. (2017). Mechanisms of Diminished Attention to Eyes in Autism. The American journal of psychiatry174(1), 26–35.
  • Klin, A., Shultz, S., & Jones, W. (2015). Social visual engagement in infants and toddlers with autism: early developmental transitions and a model of pathogenesis. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews50, 189–203.
  • Jones, W., & Klin, A. (2013). Attention to eyes is present but in decline in 2-6-month-old infants later diagnosed with autism. Nature504(7480), 427–431.
  • Rice, K., Moriuchi, J. M., Jones, W., & Klin, A. (2012). Parsing heterogeneity in autism spectrum disorders: visual scanning of dynamic social scenes in school-aged children. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry51(3), 238–248.
  • Shultz, S., Klin, A., & Jones, W. (2011). Inhibition of eye blinking reveals subjective perceptions of stimulus salience. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America108(52), 21270–21275.
  • Jones, W., & Klin, A. (2009). Heterogeneity and homogeneity across the autism spectrum: the role of development. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry48(5), 471–473.
  • Klin, A., Lin, D. J., Gorrindo, P., Ramsay, G., & Jones, W. (2009). Two-year-olds with autism orient to non-social contingencies rather than biological motion. Nature459(7244), 257–261.
  • Jones, W., Carr, K., & Klin, A. (2008). Absence of preferential looking to the eyes of approaching adults predicts level of social disability in 2-year-old toddlers with autism spectrum disorder. Archives of general psychiatry65(8), 946–954.
  • Klin, A., Jones, W., Schultz, R., Volkmar, F., & Cohen, D. (2002). Visual fixation patterns during viewing of naturalistic social situations as predictors of social competence in individuals with autism. Archives of general psychiatry59(9), 809–816.

Speaking Engagements

  • Jones, W. (2019, May).  Using Social Visual Engagement to Quantify the Emergence of Autism in Infancy.  Presentation at 2019 Gordon Research Conference, “Eye Movements: Bridging Knowledge About Gaze Control Across Applications, Disorders, Levels, and Species”, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine.
  • Jones, W. (2018, May).  Quantifying the Emergence of Autism in Infancy: New Tools to Identify Infants with Autism and to Understand the Causes of Social Disability.  Keynote address at the 3rd International Autism Conference of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Central Asia, in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
  • Jones, W. (2018, May). Performance of Eye-Tracking-Based Assays for Early Identification and Prediction of Developmental Functioning in ASD.  Presentation at the International Society for Autism Research, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
  • Jones, W. (2017, May). Developmental Endophenotypes To Quantify The Emergence Of Autism In Infancy.  Keynote address at the International Meeting for Autism Research, San Francisco, California.
  • Jones, W. (2016, September 16). Developmental social neuroscience meets public health challenge. Presented at Global Health Innovations, Belizean Grove Conference, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.
  • Jones, W. (2014, June 18). Eye-tracking measures of social disability as Treatment Endpoints in Children with ASD. New Approaches to Drug Studies for Treating Social Deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorder, American Society of Clinical Neuropsychopharmacology, Miami, FL.

Media Placements