Quick Facts
Biography
James B. Adams is a President's Professor at Arizona State University, where he directs the autism/Asperger's research program, though he originally taught chemical and materials engineering there. Adams also holds a post at the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine. He is also the president of the Autism Society of Greater Phoenix, the co-chair of the Autism Research Institute's scientific advisory committee, and has received the Autism Service Award from the Greater Phoenix chapter of the Autism Society of America. He has been featured on Dateline NBC, and received a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award from President George Bush.
Education
Dr. Adams has a bachelor's degree from Duke University in physics (1984), as well an MS (1986) and a PhD (1987) in materials engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Career
Adams was formerly an assistant, and later associate, professor of engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1989 to 1996, whereupon he became an associate professor at ASU. He became a full professor in 1998.
Research
Engineering
Adams' team at ASU works in the field of computational and materials science, studying semiconductor processing and the ideal coatings for tools used for aluminum processing using computer simulations, as well as silicon thin-film cells.
Autism
Adams' autism-related research has concluded that it is likely that heavy metals, particularly cadmium and mercury, are related to the etiology of autism, and has also concluded that chelation therapy, as well as pioglitazone, may be an effective way to treat it. In addition, Adams contends that elevated testosterone levels are linked to the depletion of glutathione, which in turn results in increased susceptibility to toxic metals, citing the research of Simon Baron-Cohen. Adams is also on the scientific advisory board of the IAOMT. Adams, in an interview with NBC News, stated that the "symptoms of Acrodynia [caused by exposure to mercury in teething powders] were pretty similar to symptoms of autism." However, a paper published in Pediatrics noted that there are major differences between the symptoms of mercury poisoning and those of autism. Adams' research has been described as "a laundry list of autism woo" by Emily Willingham.
Personal life
Adams and his wife, Marie, have three children. He became interested in autism when his daughter, Kim, was diagnosed with the disorder in 1994; he has stated he suspects this occurred because of her vaccinations and stopped vaccinating her after her autism diagnosis.
Selected publications
Engineering
- Yang, S. H.; Drabold, D. A.; Adams, J. B.; Ordejón, P.; Glassford, K. (1997). "Density functional studies of small platinum clusters". Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter. 9 (5): L39. doi:10.1088/0953-8984/9/5/002.
- Siegel, D.; Hector, L.; Adams, J. (2002). "Adhesion, atomic structure, and bonding at the Al(111)/α-Al2O3(0001) interface: A first principles study". Physical Review B. 65 (8). doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.65.085415.
Autism
- Adams, J. B.; Romdalvik, J.; Ramanujam, V. M. S.; Legator, M. S. (2007). "Mercury, Lead, and Zinc in Baby Teeth of Children with Autism Versus Controls". Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A. 70 (12): 1046–1051. doi:10.1080/15287390601172080. PMID 17497416.
- Geier, D. A.; Kern, J. K.; Garver, C. R.; Adams, J. B.; Audhya, T.; Nataf, R.; Geier, M. R. (2009). "Biomarkers of environmental toxicity and susceptibility in autism". Journal of the Neurological Sciences. 280 (1–2): 101–108. doi:10.1016/j.jns.2008.08.021. PMID 18817931.
- Adams, J. B.; Johansen, L. J.; Powell, L. D.; Quig, D.; Rubin, R. A. (2011). "Gastrointestinal flora and gastrointestinal status in children with autism -- comparisons to typical children and correlation with autism severity". BMC Gastroenterology. 11: 22. doi:10.1186/1471-230X-11-22. PMC 3072352
. PMID 21410934. - Kang, D. W.; Park, J. G.; Ilhan, Z. E.; Wallstrom, G.; Labaer, J.; Adams, J. B.; Krajmalnik-Brown, R. (2013). Gilbert, Jack Anthony, ed. "Reduced Incidence of Prevotella and Other Fermenters in Intestinal Microflora of Autistic Children". PLoS ONE. 8 (7): e68322. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0068322. PMC 3700858. PMID 23844187.
