Amy M. Wetherby, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences and Director of the Autism Institute in the Florida State University (FSU) College of Medicine and the Laurel Schendel Professor of Communication Disorders. She has over 40 years of clinical experience with Honors of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Her research has focused on improving early detection of autism and communication disorders and providing community-viable evidence-based early intervention. She is Executive Director of the FSU Center for Autism and Related Disabilities. She served on the National Academy of Sciences Committee for Educational Interventions for Autism and the APA DSM-5 Neurodevelopmental Workgroup. Dr. Wetherby is Director of FIRST WORDS® Project, a longitudinal research investigation on early detection of ASD and other communication disorders, funded by the US DOE, NIDCD, CDC, NICHD, and NIMH. She has been Co-PI on several randomized clinical trials, including an efficacy study of the Early Social Interaction (ESI) model to teach parents of toddlers with ASD how to embed intervention strategies in their everyday activities funded by NIMH and an efficacy study training teachers to support communication of students with ASD in the classroom funded by US DOED, IES. She was Co-PI on a multisite health services grant funded by NIMH training primary care physicians to use a new automated screening tool, the “Smart” Early Screening for Autism and Communication Disorder (ESAC), which has important implications for mobilizing communities to improve family engagement in early screening, diagnosis, and entry into early intervention. She is co-developer of Autism Navigator®, an innovative collection of virtual tools and courses designed to bridge the science-practice gap using extensive video footage to illustrate early signs of autism and effective evidence-based practice, and its companion Baby Navigator for families. She is PI on an Autism Center of Excellence Network that is studying individual and combined effects of 2 evidence-based interventions in real world settings. She is also PI on a new collaborative research project to implement an effectiveness randomized trial of Mobile Coaching with the ESI model for parents of toddlers with ASD identified at 18 months. The overarching goal of the collective efforts of her research is to build the capacity of healthcare systems to improve early detection and provide access to cost-efficient early intervention feasible for far-reaching community implementation.