
John Constantino
Blanche F. Ittleson Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics
- Phone: 314-286-1700
- Email: constantino@wustl.edu
Additional Titles & Roles
- Psychiatrist-In-Chief, St. Louis Children’s Hospital Director, William Greenleaf Eliot Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
- Co-Director, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center
Education & Training
- Research Fellowship: Psychiatric Epidemiology: Washington University, St. Louis, MO, 1996
- Fellowship: Child Psychiatry: Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, 1993
- Residency: Psychiatry: Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, 1992
- Residency: Pediatrics: Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, 1990
- MD: Washington University, St. Louis, MO, 1988
- BA: Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 1984
Major Awards
- George Tarjan Award, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2015
- Irving Philips Award for Prevention (Health Promotion and Prevention Committee), American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2014
- Guardian Angel Award, Family Support Network, St. Louis Missouri, 2008
- Child Advocate of the Year, St. Louis Area Council on Child Abuse and Neglect, 2007
- Distinguished Service Teaching Award (Clinical Teacher of the Year), Washington University, 2003
- Gubernational Appointment to the Mental Health Commission, State of Missouri, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
Areas of Clinical Interest
Disorders of social development in children (infancy through early adulthood) including autism, abnormally aggressive behavior, personality disorder; psychiatric complications of neurodevelopmental disorders; treatment-refractory child psychiatric conditions.
Research Interests
1) the influence of genetic and environmental influences on childhood social development;
2) the genetic structure of autism spectrum disorders;
3) the prevention of child maltreatment and its consequences;
4) the intergenerational transmission of attachment
Key Publications
- Constantino JN, (2019 Jan). Early behavioral indices of inherited liability to autism. Pediatr. Res.. 85(2): 127-133.
Read publication »Early behavioral indices of inherited liability to autism. - Constantino JN, Kennon-McGill S, Weichselbaum C, Marrus N, Haider A, Glowinski AL, Gillespie S, Klaiman C, Klin A, Jones W, (2017 07). Infant viewing of social scenes is under genetic control and is atypical in autism. Nature. 547(7663): 340-344.
Read publication »Infant viewing of social scenes is under genetic control and is atypical in autism. - Constantino JN, Ben-David V, Navsaria N, Spiegel TE, Glowinski AL, Rogers CE, Jonson-Reid M, (2016 06). Two-Generation Psychiatric Intervention in the Prevention of Early Childhood Maltreatment Recidivism. Am J Psychiatry. 173(6): 566-73.
Read publication »Two-Generation Psychiatric Intervention in the Prevention of Early Childhood Maltreatment Recidivism. - Constantino JN, (2016 Apr). Child Maltreatment Prevention and the Scope of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 25(2): 157-65.
Read publication »Child Maltreatment Prevention and the Scope of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. - Constantino JN, Charman T, (2016 Mar). Diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder: reconciling the syndrome, its diverse origins, and variation in expression. Lancet Neurol. 15(3): 279-91.
Read publication »Diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder: reconciling the syndrome, its diverse origins, and variation in expression. - Constantino JN, Zhang Y, Abbacchi A, Frazier TW and Law P, (2010 Nov). Sibling recurrence and the genetic epidemiology of autism. American Journal of Psychiatry
Read publication »[Right- or left-handedness. Ergonomic resolution. Rotary instruments and interesting ways of cutting].
Funded Research Projects
Administration for Children and Families (Co-PI)
Buffering Toxic Stress: Novel Application of Intensive Group-based Parent Training
Missouri Department of Mental Health (PI): Autism Spectrum Disorder Wait list Reduction and Training Services
CDC (PI): Metropolitan St. Louis Autism & Developmental Disabilities Surveillance & Epidemiology
NIMH (Co- PI): ACE Network: A Comprehensive Approach to the Identification of Autism Susceptibility Genes
NICHD (PI): Washington University Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center
NICHD (PI): Sex Specific Modulation of ASD liability: compensatory mechanisms and recurrence (IDDRC)
St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund (PI): Comprehensive Approach to Unmet Mental Health Needs of Preschool Children in Foster Care, Phase 1
NICHD (PI): Early Quantitative Characterization of Reciprocal Social Behavior
CDC (PI): Missouri Autism Centers of Excellence Collaborative Study to Explore Early Development