Physician Advisor

I am a professor of family medicine at UCSD School of Medicine and Rady Children’s Hospital. I have a personal interest and experience with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). I was the PI for the pilot study called the Autism Sports Project, which demonstrates improvements in social and communication skills on children with ASD.

I am thrilled to help lead a new team to further evaluate the potential health benefits of team sports for children with ASD. I hope our wonderful research team will be able to confirm the amazing results of our pilot study and open up a new avenue of supportive treatment.

Physician Advisor

I am a faculty physician at Family Health Centers of San Diego’s community based family medicine residency program. I am passionate about exercise, nutrition and behavioral approaches to care and am excited to be part of this Autism Sports Project!

2025-2026 Program Coordinator

Hello! My name is Rachael, and I’m currently an undergraduate student at UC San Diego majoring in Clinical Psychology. I’ve been a volunteer with Every Child Plays since January 2024. I love witnessing the growth in each player—not just in their athletic abilities, but also in their confidence, social skills, and overall well-being. I’m grateful to be part of an organization that makes such a meaningful impact on neurodiverse children’s daily lives.

Recruitment Lead

Hi my name is Seoin and I am a third-year molecular cell biology major at UCSD! I first joined this program back when I was a first-year. I love working with kids and all the coaches in the program and I wish to continue doing what I can do to contribute to this program!

I am an MD graduate from AUIS, and for as long as I can remember, basketball has been a central part of my life. This deep connection to sports naturally led me to discover and embrace sports medicine as my calling. There's something incredibly rewarding about contributing to a community and being able to give back in tangible ways. That's why I am so thrilled to be a part of ASP. This organization offers an incredibly unique and inspiring platform that allows me to combine my passion for sports and my medical training to make a positive and lasting difference for the communities we serve.

Hi! I’m Coach Dru! I help coach for Every Child Plays and am involved in our research side of the project where we assess how well our program does at improving our players social and physical development. For my day job I work as a family medicine resident physician at Kaiser Permanente. I plan on practicing as a general practitioner and pediatric sports medicine doctor. I got involved with Every Child Plays/Autism Sports Project given my interests in medicine and sports. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time coaching and am excited to continue working with our veteran players and to welcome new players and families!

Hometown: Salt Lake City, UT

Undergrad: University of Portland…Go Pilots!

Medical School: The Ohio State University…Go Bucks!

Research Team

Hi! My name is Saanvi Iyer, and I am a senior at Scripps Ranch High School interested in understanding how the brain shapes the way we learn, communicate, and grow. Working with children with autism has shown me how important it is to understand each child as an individual, and it made me want to learn more about the science behind their experiences. As part of the Every Child Plays research team, I hope to contribute to research that helps us better understand autism while finding meaningful ways to support children and their development.

2022-2023 Program Coordinator

I recently graduated in June 2022 with my B.S. in Microbiology, and am currently working towards my M.S. in Biological Sciences as part of the dual-degree BS/MS program at UC San Diego. I aim to defend my master's thesis in June 2023, after which I hope to pursue a 1-year postbacclaurate program as part of the NIH Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA), with the intention to matriculate in an MD-PhD program to pursue a career as a physician-scientist.

From the moment I heard about ASP, I knew I wanted to contribute. Having an older brother with autism inspired me to work with neurodivergent children as a respite worker in college, so I am extremely passionate about any and all advocacy efforts to increase community involvement of autistic kids.

2022 Web Designer

Hi there, I’m a 3rd year Bioinformatics undergrad here at UCSD. My goal is to become a pediatrics surgeon with a focus on the spinal cord and brain. PS: I helped make this website! ╰(*°▽°*)╯

I am a professional basketball coach and the founder of Players Play basketball program. We have developed over 100 college basketball players over the last decade. Mentored and coached thousands of players to live healthy, successful lives. I was the head coach for the original pilot basketball cohort in the Autism Sports Project.