Alessandra Piatti

I am running an intervention study about Project ImPACT, a parent-implemented programme for toddlers with ASD.
My ambition is to understand how the improvement in social engagement that some children experience after early intervention is made possible by changes occurring at a deeper level. For this reason I am also collecting brain activity measures (EEG and NIRS data) and saliva samples to study the relationship between behavioural changes and those occurring in cognitive processes and DNA methylation.

As I am also interested in the effects of early intervention on parental stress, I am asking the moms participanting in our study to donate a hair sample for retrospective cortisol analysis after the intervention.

I love my job, because it gives me the opportunity to see how the actions we can control can be just as strong as the facts we can't control in shaping our life.

E-mail: alessandra.piatti@ugent.be