York University professors Kohitij Kar has received Ontario’s Early Researcher Award, a competitive provincial honour that supports promising early-career faculty leading innovative research.
The Early Researcher Award recognizes faculty at publicly funded Ontario institutions within their first 10 years of an academic career. It supports advancing knowledge and building strong teams of graduate and undergraduate trainees to develop future research leaders in Ontario.
Kar, a professor of biology in the Faculty of Science and Canada Research Chair in Visual Neuroscience, received the Early Researcher Award for work exploring how the brain might process sensory information differently in autistic adults, focusing on how they see and understand the world.
Kohitij Kar By combining computer simulations with brain activity studies, the team models how changes in specific brain areas might lead to autism-like behaviours, specifically by adding controlled “noise.” The findings aim to enhance diagnosis and develop more effective support strategies, reinforcing Ontario’s investment in autism services and assisting community organizations.
“There is an urgent need to develop testable computational models of the neural basis of autism, particularly the sensory differences,” says Kar. “This award is a critical boost for our project, allowing us to expand our research and accelerate the development of tools that can better understand sensory processing differences in autism. It brings us closer to real-world impact for individuals and families affected by autism.”
Kar’s current project builds on his award-winning work studying visual object processing. His research appears in leading journals including Nature Neuroscience and Science. He leads a research program at York and has earned awards such as the Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research Award. His combined expertise in neuroscience and artificial intelligence makes him well positioned to lead this innovative effort.
The achievement reflects York’s growing leadership in interdisciplinary research with real-world impact, says Amir Asif, vice-president research and innovation.