Additional Titles & Roles
- Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences (Courtesy)
- Professor of Radiology
- Member, The Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences (DBBS), Biomedical Informatics and Data Science
- Member, The Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences (DBBS), Neuroscience Program
Education & Training
- Fellowship: Washington University, St. Louis, MO, 2005
- Residency: Washington University, St. Louis, MO, 2003
- M.D.: Washington University in St Louis, 2000
- Ph.D.: Washington University in St Louis, 2000
- B.A.: Princeton University, 1990
Major Awards
- Castle Connolly Top Doctor™, 2021
- Recognition for Eggebrecht et al., 2020 (role: co-senior author): Autism Science Foundation’s “Research Recap”, 2020
- Recognition for Emerson et al., 2017 (role: co-senior author): Spectrum’s “Notable papers in autism research in 2017,” Autism Speaks’ “Top Ten 2017 Studies,” Selected NICHD Research Advances of 2017, and Autism Science Foundation’s “The Big News This Year: Biology Before Behavior”, 2017
- Judge for the 37th and 40th annual O’Leary Prize for Excellence in Neuroscience Research. Washington University School of Medicine, 2014, 2017
Areas of Clinical Interest
Dr. John Pruett, Jr. is a leading child psychiatrist specializing in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with a focus on early diagnosis and innovative research into the neuroscience of autism and social cognition. With an extensive background in both clinical practice and cutting-edge research, Dr. Pruett offers expertise in the early identification and treatment of ASD in children as young as one to three years old. Through his work, Dr. Pruett contributes to advancing autism science, bringing a compassionate and research-driven approach to his care for families navigating autism-related challenges. His commitment to improving the lives of children with ASD, alongside his leadership in autism research, positions him as an exceptional resource for both patients and the broader medical community.
Research Interests
-The neuroscience of ASD, social cognition, and comparative cognition
Recent Publications
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Longitudinal profiles of executive function in autistic and non-autistic children at high likelihood of autism
IBIS Network, Dec 2026, In: Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders. 18, 1, 21.
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Extra-axial cerebrospinal fluid volumes from 6 to 24 months of age are associated with poorer executive function at school-age in children with and without autism
Zhang, Y., Rutsohn, J., Kim, S. H., Pandey, J., Schultz, R. T., Zwaigenbaum, L., Burrows, C., Dager, S. R., John, T. S., Estes, A. M., McKinstry, R. C., Marrus, N., Pruett, J. R., Styner, M., Hazlett, H. C., Piven, J., Shen, M. D. & Garic, D., Dec 2026, In: Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders. 18, 1, 9.
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Predicting Cognitive Outcomes by Mapping White Matter Tracts to Surface
Hong, Y., Azrak, O., Wolff, J. J., Swanson, M. R., Elison, J. T., Gerig, G., Pruett, J. R., Vachet, C., Botteron, K. N., Dager, S. R., Estes, A. M., Hazlett, H. C., Schultz, R., Shen, M. D., Zwaigenbaum, L., Evans, A., Collins, D. L., Fonov, V. S., Cornea, E. & Girault, J. B. & 7 others, , 2026, Machine Learning in Medical Imaging – 16th International Workshop, MLMI 2025, Held in Conjunction with MICCAI 2025, Proceedings. Cui, Z., Rekik, I., Suk, H.-I., Ouyang, X., Sun, K. & Wang, S. (eds.). Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, p. 594-603 10 p. (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; vol. 16241 LNCS).
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Phenotype Representation and Analysis via Discriminative Atypicality (PRADA) to Capture the Structural Heterogeneity of Autism Spectrum Disorder
Onemli, E., Mahmood, A., Azrak, O., Garic, D., Swanson, M. R., Grzadzinski, R., Mata, K., Shen, M. D., Girault, J. B., St. John, T., Pandey, J., Zwaigenbaum, L., Estes, A. M., Shen, A. M., Dager, S. R., Schultz, R. T., Botteron, K. N., Evans, A. C., Elison, J. T. & Yacoub, E. & 8 others, , 2026, Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention, MICCAI 2025 – 28th International Conference, 2025, Proceedings. Gee, J. C., Hong, J., Sudre, C. H., Golland, P., Alexander, D. C., Iglesias, J. E., Venkataraman, A. & Kim, J. H. (eds.). Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, p. 473-483 11 p. (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; vol. 15961 LNCS).
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Anticipation of a therapeutic odyssey following predictive testing for autism
MacDuffie, K. E., Washington, A. M., Burrows, C. A., Dager, S. R., Elison, J. T., Estes, A. M., Grzadzinski, R., Lee, C. M., Piven, J., Shen, M. D., Wilfond, B. S., Wolff, J., Zwaigenbaum, L. & Pruett, J. R., Dec 2025, In: Scientific reports. 15, 1, 39608.