Director Karoly Mirnics, MD, PhD, spoke about growth and changes to the Munroe-Meyer Institute over past year during his annual “State of the Institute” address to MMI faculty and staff on Oct. 10. Dr. Mirnics presented to community members a week later.
“We are growing, and we are doing well,” Dr. Mirnics said.
Annual clinical visits, grant funding and community engagement involvement all have grown.
One positive sign, he said, is the recent opening of an Autism Care for Toddlers Clinic in Fremont. This is the first clinic to open outside of the Omaha metro.
Dr. Mirnics credited staff with getting the clinic up and running, noting the efforts ran the gamut from arranging for furniture and internet to organizing philanthropic support.
The broader goal, he said, is to open ACT Clinics across the state to “provide services where our clients live.”
The past year has seen a boost in philanthropic donations to the institute, including a donation of $7.5 million made available as matching funds. These funds will support programming and endowments as MMI looks to the future, Dr. Mirnics said.
Dr. Mirnics pointed to other events of the past 12 months, including:
- The creation of a behavioral de-escalation program that will be introduced in the near future. The program is tailored to MMI, incorporating traits from programs that exist elsewhere.
- Remembering Connie O’Neil, who died in May. O’Neil was a longtime philanthropist whose generosity led to the pool and splash pad at the new MMI building.
- Remembering Paul Laikko, who spent 35 years as a speech language pathologist at MMI. Laikko died in July. Dr. Mirnics said MMI is exploring the possibility of an endowment in Laikko’s name.
- The Applied Behavior Analysis PhD program continues to be ranked as one of the top in the country.
- Over the next five years or so, Dr. Mirnics expects to see leadership changes at the institute. “It shouldn’t scare us, but we should be prepared,” he said. “We, the older generation, need to leave the new generation fully empowered and in good shape to take things to the next level.”
- The possibility of staff advancement at MMI is in the works. Individuals, whether faculty or staff, would have multiple levels of progression in their roles. Along with that, staff members who teach at other academic institutions would be able to accept courtesy faculty positions at those institutions.
- MMI continues to offer a dyad treatment program, allowing one therapist to work with two patients at a time. This helps cut down the waiting list while also helping children work on social skills
- MMI received one of the largest grants in the institute’s history. A $9.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education is designed to ensure individuals with disabilities have access to in-demand, good-paying jobs.
- Directors are working on how they could implement artificial intelligence to improve their departments and workflow.
- The EarliPoint device is up and running at MMI to aid in autism diagnoses. It significantly reduces testing time. Officials now are looking at expanding use of the device into rural areas and to older children.
- Primary care is expected to be introduced at MMI sometime in 2025.
- New artwork in the form of metal fish now hangs above the splash pad at MMI. The project was led by the same artist, Therman Statom, behind the birds hanging in the lobby. Some MMI clients contributed to the design of the fish.