News You Can Use

(From the October 2025 issue of MedStat) 

Early Career Award Recipient: Elizabeth W. Barnhardt, DO

Elizabeth W. Barnhardt, DO, was honored with the Early Career Award by the Council on Children with Disabilities at the American Academy of Pediatrics conference for her exceptional work with children with developmental differences.

Dr. Barnhardt is an attending physician in Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics and assistant professor at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Her efforts focus on improving care through education, access, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

She leads the Primary Care Autism ECHO series, helping community clinicians better identify and manage autism and related conditions. Her clinical work emphasizes autism and Williams Syndrome, and she co-directs the Williams Syndrome Program at Nationwide Children’s. She also launched a clinic embedded in primary care to reduce wait times for developmental assessments.

Dr. Barnhardt is the founding editor of the Medical Education and Innovations section of the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, promoting education’s role in advancing care. Nationally, she supports workforce development through leadership roles in the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, mentoring future clinicians and addressing workforce shortages.