Events
Upcoming Events
The predictive impairment hypothesis in autism: An empirical assessment
On December 12, 2018, Pawan Sinha and Dagmar Sternad will review a recently proposed hypothesis about the nature of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) that posits that the common traits of the disorder are manifestations of an individual’s difficulty in making predictions about cause and effect.
Past Events
Autism genetics: Searching for coherence
On 28 November 2017, Daniel Geschwind discussed his group’s use of RNA sequencing, chromatin structure and gene networks to help develop an understanding of potential convergent mechanisms in autism spectrum disorders.
SFARI Society for Neuroscience 2017 Social
Join the SFARI science team and leaders in the autism research community for an informal evening of food, drink, conversation and mingling on 13 November 2017 in Washington, D.C.
Understanding autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders: From the embryo to brain organoids
On 1 November 2017, Paola Arlotta focused on the cerebral cortex and presented the challenges and opportunities of modeling human brain development using pluripotent stem cells within 3D human brain organoids. Building on developmental work in mice, such organoids promise a better understanding of complex neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism spectrum disorder.
Leveraging long-term health data and exome sequencing for autism-related gene discovery
On 11 October 2017, David Ledbetter discussed the progress made by Geisinger Health System’s Precision Health Center – in partnership with Regeneron Genetics Center – towards advancing research and innovation by leveraging electronic health data and exome sequence data. Such an approach has already led to the successful identification of new drug targets and improved prevalence estimates of common Mendelian conditions, including familial hypercholesterolemia, BRCA-related cancers and Lynch syndrome, as well as autism spectrum and neuropsychiatric copy number variant disorders.
What can genetics tell us about autism spectrum disorder?
On 22 March 2017, Stephan Sanders presented an update on the current state of genetics research in autism, highlighting some of the key findings that remain to be discovered, and discussing how these findings could ultimately benefit individuals with autism and their families.
Exploiting genetics to identify environmental risks for autism
On 22 February 2017, Mark Zylka described how candidate environmental risk factors for autism can be identified rationally, by pinpointing chemicals that interfere with the same molecular pathways that are affected in individuals with autism.