Board of Directors

Alison Tepper Singer is Founder and President of the Autism Science Foundation. Singer was formerly Executive Vice President of Autism Speaks, the nation’s largest autism advocacy organization. In 2007, she was appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to serve on the federal Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) where she has played a key role in developing the new federal strategic plan for autism research. She has appeared on Oprah, The Dr. Oz Show, The Apprentice, NBC Nightly News, Good Morning America, CBS Early Show and many other news programs discussing autism research and other autism-related issues. Prior to joining Autism Speaks, Ms. Singer spent 14 years as a producer at NBC and CNBC. She graduated magna cum laude from Yale University and has an MBA from Harvard Business School. She has a daughter and an older brother with autism. She serves on many boards of autism-related organizations.

Karen Margulis London is the Co-Founder of the Autism Science Foundation. London graduated magna cum laude from Brown University and received her J.D. degree cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She practiced law with Schulte Roth & Zabel in New York City and McCarter & English, Newark, NJ, specializing in mergers and acquisitions in both law firms. London was the Co-founder and President of the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR), which merged with Autism Speaks in 2006. Together with her husband, NAAR Co-founder Dr. Eric London, she has been honored by many autism organizations, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR), a Lifetime Achievement Award from Autism New Jersey (formerly COSAC) and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Autism Center. Ms. London has an adult son with autism.

Gregg E. Ireland is a Senior Vice President of Capital World Investors, a division of Capital Research and Management Company. CRMC is the investment advisor for the American Funds with $1 trillion under management. Gregg joined Capital in 1972 and has spent his entire career with the Capital organization. Gregg holds a bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from Claremont McKenna College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Gregg serves on several nonprofit boards dealing with autism and special needs. He is a co-founder and board member of Extraordinary Ventures, Inc., a program that provides employment and social opportunities for young adults with autism. He previously served on the boards of the Autism Society of North Carolina, FPG Child Development Institute, and group home organization Residential Services, Inc. Gregg is also a founding member of the U.S. Marines Raider Foundation. Raised in Southern California, Gregg resides with his wife Lori and their youngest son Vincent in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The couple has three other adult children as well.

Michael Lewis is an attorney, mediator, and experienced activist, serving on several non-profit boards in the fields of justice, education, and health. He currently serves as an Alternative Dispute Resolution Consultant at JAMS, where he has successfully mediated dozens of high profile disputes. He is an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law School and also teaches at Harvard Law School. Michael has a BA from Dartmouth and a JD from Georgetown Law School. His granddaughter is diagnosed with autism.

Paul A. Offit, MD is the Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He is a recipient of many awards including the J. Edmund Bradley Prize for Excellence in Pediatrics bestowed by the University of Maryland Medical School and a Research Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Offit has published more than 130 papers in medical and scientific journals. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed book "Autism’s False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure" (2008), and "Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All" (2010). Dr. Offit is also a member of the Institute of Medicine.