Hisashi Umemori and colleagues showed that X-inactivation-based patchy expression of PCDH19 causes defects in presynaptic development and signaling in the mouse hippocampus, affecting memory processes.
New Simons Searchlight data were recently added to SFARI Base. This data release included phenotypic data from individuals with 16p11.2 copy number variants (CNVs), 1q21.1 CNVs, 7q11.23 duplication and variants in 32 single genes associated with autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions.
The Bridge to Independence Award program serves as an overall scientific support system to help early-career scientists successfully launch their independent research positions. Fellows receive a commitment of $495,000 over three years, activated upon assumption of a tenure-track professorship, as well as a designated $10,000 gift for professional development activities to be spent during the transition year.
In October and November 2021, SFARI held the fall 2021 science meeting virtually. Across three webinars, nine SFARI-funded researchers discussed their latest findings in autism research to an audience of over 300 attendees, including current and past SFARI Investigators, SFARI collaborators and postdocs training in SFARI-funded labs.
SFARI is pleased to announce that seven Director Awards were awarded in 2021. These projects include, but are not limited to, studies that aim to develop new tools and resources for autism research and studies whose goals are beyond the focus of existing SFARI request for applications.
New phenotypic and genomic data are available from participants enrolled in SPARK. Currently available data include phenotypic information from 283,520 people, including more than 111,000 individuals with ASD, as well as whole-exome sequencing and genome-wide genotyping data from 72,262 participants; of these, 3,227 genomes and 31,641 exomes are from individuals with ASD.
Bence Ölveczky, Jesse Marshall and colleagues developed a new method, CAPTURE, for long-term behavioral tracking in rodents and demonstrate its utility in tracking behaviors in Fmr1-KO rats.
Olga Troyanskaya and colleagues developed a bioinformatics framework for the identification and prioritization of disease-associated enhancers.
SFARI 2022 Pilot Award request for applications (RFA) is now open. Grants awarded through this RFA are intended to provide early support for exploratory ideas, particularly those with novel hypotheses for autism.
SFARI’s requests for grant applications (RFAs) underwent a number of changes in 2021. In 2022, we will largely continue on the course set last year. There will be a single call for Pilot Awards and new calls for the Human Cognitive and Behavioral Science and the Genomics of ASD RFAs.