Agnieszka Rynkiewicz

Agnieszka Rynkiewicz MD, MAT, PhD, received her MD and residency training in Psychiatry at the Department of Psychiatry, Medical University of Gdansk and the Clinical Regional Psychiatric Hospital in Gdansk, Poland. She earned her PhD in Psychiatry from the Medical University of Gdansk and completed the United States Medical Licensing Examinations (USMLE) in the USA. She additionally holds an MAT in Special Education from Seattle Pacific University in the USA, is an internationally recognized certified ADOS-2 trainer, and is certified in ADOS-2, ADI-R, ACIA, STAT™, BOSA, and BOSCC. She is currently working at the Department of Psychiatry, College of Medical Sciences, Collegium Medicum University of Rzeszow in Poland.

She is the first Polish physician and researcher appointed to the role of International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) Global Senior Leader for Poland (two consecutive terms, 2020–2026). She is the co-author of the first diagnostic assessment (2011) designed to screen for autism in females: Girls’ Questionnaire for Autism Spectrum Conditions (GQ-ASC/Q-ASC) (Tony Attwood, Michelle Garnett, Agnieszka Rynkiewicz). She is also a co-author of the Polish diagnostic assessments STAT and BOSA.

She is the recipient of the ENABLE Award 2014 in the United Kingdom for the development of new ICT solutions supporting disabled learners. In 2016, she received an award from the University of Cambridge, Autism Research Trust, and INSAR for her work on co-occurring psychopathology and sex differences in the clinical manifestation of autistic girls. She is a co-author of the interactive therapeutic program EmotiPlay for autistic children to learn emotions expressed through facial expressions, gestures, and voice, developed within the ASC-Inclusion project. She developed the first ECHO Autism program in Poland in 2022 and is a recipient of the Award of the Prof. Walczak Programme (NAWA) 2020.

Her interests include neurodevelopmental disorders, sex and gender differences in autism (ASD), and ICT-based solutions for standardized assessments in ASD. Her research focuses on autism in females, neuroendocrine systems, and reproductive hormones, as well as subsequent health trajectories across cardiovascular and autoimmune conditions, particularly in neurodivergent populations.