Trainee Spotlight: Postdoctoral Fellow Jacqueline Flowers, PhD

Jackie Flowers was one of the first externs to train at the Duke Center for Autism, while completing her doctoral program in school psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Today, Flowers is a full-time investigator, providing comprehensive diagnostic evaluations for multiple scientific studies. Flowers is an important member of a multidisciplinary research team working on the mechanics behind the novel application, Sense to Know, that uses computer vision analysis to automatically assess autism risk behaviors in young infants and toddlers. The unique screening tool uses of a series of short movies and games to collect data on a child’s gaze, attention, and emotional expressions. Movements are tracked using landmarks on the child’s face, including the eyes, eyebrows, nose, and lips. In addition to its potential for screening, the digital tool may help discover new measurable characteristics of autism, called biomarkers, which could be useful in clinical trials. The Sense To Know team is composed of psychiatrists, psychologists, research assistants, and engineers. In her role, Flowers acts as team liaison between the clinical staff, who understand autism symptomology, and the engineering staff, who understand the mechanics of the computer vision analysis.