NJLEND Welcomes Incoming 2025-2026 Cohort
Thursday, September 25, 2025
The Boggs Center’s New Jersey Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (NJLEND) program began its tenth year with an orientation for incoming fellows on August 28th, 2025. Part of a national network of LEND programs authorized by the Autism CARES Act and administered through the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, NJLEND provides graduate-level fellows, family members and advocates with interdisciplinary training to address the needs of children and adults with autism and related disabilities as well as other maternal and child health populations. Over the course of the academic year, NJLEND fellows will participate in the weekly Didactic Seminar Series, as well as a range of experiential learning, leadership development, and clinical training opportunities.
NJLEND represents a unique set of university, state, local, and family partnerships. The 2025-2026 NJLEND cohort includes 17 graduate and doctoral-level fellows, representing 9 academic disciplines from Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences and Rutgers Health, as well as 2 family fellows who have children with disabilities and 2 advocacy fellows living with disability. NJLEND provides fellows the opportunity to learn from each other and experts in the field and to receive support and mentoring from faculty in their respective discipline, as well as families living with disability. NJLEND faculty come from 11 unique disciplines, including: Dentistry, Genetic Counseling, Medicine, Nursing, Nutrition, Occupational Therapy, Psychology, Public Health, Social Work, Family, and Advocacy.