SFARI | News

Neuromuscular junction. Fluorescent confocal light micrograph of the junction between a nerve cell and a muscle (not seen). The axon of the nerve cell (neuron) has been tagged with a blue dye. The axon ends at end plates, which form junctions called synapses with the muscle cells. The end plates have been dyed red here by tagging them with the snake venom alpha-bungarotoxin, which binds to them. When a nerve signal reaches the synapse, it causes the synaptic vesicles to rupture, releasing the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. The protein synaptophysin, found in the vesicles, is dyed green. Acetylcholine binds to receptors on the muscle cells, causing them to contract. Magnification: x120 when printed 10cm wide.

SFARI 2021 Pilot awardees announced

SFARI is pleased to announce that it intends to fund 17 grants in response to the 2021 Pilot Award request for applications.

New iPSC lines from Simons Searchlight participants are now available

In conjunction with the Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation, SFARI is releasing 30 new induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines for use in autism research.

SFARI Gene to introduce EAGLE, a new ASD-relevance gene scoring system

The ASD-relevance of genes in the SFARI Gene database will be assessed according to a new scoring system called EAGLE (Evaluation of Autism Gene Link Evidence). This metric adds to SFARI Gene’s four ASD-confidence categories to provide an additional tool for assessing a gene’s specific association to ASD rather than neurodevelopmental conditions at large.

Autism BrainNet to digitize the Autism Celloidin Library of postmortem brains

Autism BrainNet is working to digitize the Autism Celloidin Library, a unique collection of 28 celloidin-embedded, Nissl-stained brains from donors with and without autism spectrum disorder. The collection provides a unique resource for histological studies aimed at quantifying and characterizing changes in cell distribution, size and regional structure. Digitized images will be available to interested researchers upon request.

Swedish Nobel Prize Medal for Physics Chemistry Physiology or Medicine Literature. Note: the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize has a different design. The Swedish Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel is not a Nobel Prize and has a different design as well.

SFARI Investigators awarded Nobel Prize, Lasker Award and MacArthur Fellowship

Three SFARI Investigators (current and past) have recently received prestigious prizes in the natural sciences.

2021 Genomics of ASD: Pathways to Genetic Therapies awardees announced

SFARI is pleased to announce that it intends to fund 17 grants in response to the 2021 Genomics of ASD: Pathways to Genetic Therapies request for applications.

Neuroscience 2021: Presentations by SFARI Investigators

A number of presentations will be given by SFARI Investigators at Neuroscience 2021 (November 8–11).

SFARI Investigators elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2021

Three SFARI Investigators (current and past) are among this year’s 100 newly elected members of the National Academy of Medicine.