Genevieve Konopka and colleagues reported important roles for Foxp1 in particular subclasses of the spiny projection neurons in the striatum, with downstream effects on striatal-dependent circuits and behaviors.

SFARI is pleased to announce that eight genetic rat models of autism spectrum disorder are now available from the Medical College of Wisconsin. These models are being maintained in the outbred Long-Evans background strain and are being behaviorally phenotyped through a partnership with the Simons Initiative for the Developing Brain.

SFARI is pleased to announce that it has selected three fellows in response to the 2020 Bridge to Independence Award request for applications.

New data were recently added to SFARI Gene. This data release included the addition of new genes associated with autism risk, new curated references of copy number variations associated with autism and new mouse models of autism.

Garret Stuber and colleagues used in vivo calcium imaging to show that a population of oxytocin-positive (OT) neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus responds preferentially to social stimuli and is necessary for regulating social behavior. Reduced number of OT neurons was associated with social deficits in Shank3b KO mice.

This issue of the SFARI newsletter includes: (1) SFARI 2020 Research awardees, (2) SFARI’s response to appeals for racial justice in science and society, (3) SPARK update: New phenotypic data now available, (4) SFARI Gene: New data release, (5) Requesting SFARI data and biospecimens during COVID-19 pandemic, (6) SFARI abstracts and e-posters at INSAR 2020 Virtual, (7) SFARI Investigator and board member elected to the National Academy of Sciences, (8) SFARI Investigators and board member elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, (9) Workshop report: SFARI workshop explores challenges and opportunities of gene therapies for autism spectrum disorder, (10) Highlights of SFARI-funded research, (11) Past webinar: Allyson Berent, “From parent advocate to nonprofit chief science officer, to biotherapeutic company cofounder — A personal journey through drug development for Angelman syndrome.”

Michael Piper and colleagues confirmed and extended the association of USP9X loss-of-function mutations with a neurodevelopmental syndrome in both sexes, driven by changes in multiple signaling pathways.

Joseph Buxbaum and colleagues in the Autism Sequencing Consortium reported the largest exome sequencing study of ASD to date, identifying 102 risk genes at a false discovery rate of 0.1 or less.

SFARI is pleased to announce that it intends to fund eight grants in response to the 2020 Research Award request for applications.