The Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study is not easy to find.

Nestled away at the very edge of the Mason Fairfax campus, on a small side street off Shenandoah Lane, the institute looks indistinguishable from any other university building.

Inside, students labor over homework in the Great Room, a high-ceilinged library complete with a fireplace, and hunch over microscopes in the many labs.

Posters cover the hallway walls, displaying graphs, charts and titles like “Communication Development of Autism Spectrum Disorder Through a Behavior-Level Approach.”