André M. M. Sousa, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin–Madison

SFARI Investigator Website

André M. M. Sousa obtained a B.S. degree in biology and a Ph.D. degree in basic and applied biology from the University of Porto. He then received postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Nenad Sestan at Yale University before becoming an assistant professor of neuroscience and an investigator at the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Sousa’s research focuses on identifying and characterizing the molecular and cellular mechanisms that govern human brain development and evolution and applying that knowledge towards understanding neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions, including autism spectrum disorder. To study these mechanisms, his laboratory uses a multifaceted approach that combines functional genomics, postmortem human and nonhuman primate brains, induced pluripotent stem cells and mouse genetic models.

Funded Projects

Assessing the functions of autism risk genes in deep layer cortical neurons during primate midfetal development

Awarded: 2022
Award Type: Pilot

SFARI Funded Publications

Multimodal analyses reveal genes driving electrophysiological maturation of neurons in the primate prefrontal cortex. Gao Y., Dong Q., Arachchilage K.H., Risgaard R.D., Syed M., Sheng J., Schmidt D.K., Jin T., Liu S., Sandoval S.O., Knaack S., Eckholm M.T., Chen R.J., Guo Y., Doherty D., Glass I., Levine J.E., Wang D., Chang Q., Zhao X., Sousa A. M. M.

Research Highlight

A novel SMARCC1 BAFopathy implicates neural progenitor epigenetic dysregulation in human hydrocephalus. Singh A.K., Allington G., Viviano S., McGee S., Kiziltug E., Ma S., Zhao S., Mekbib K.Y., Shohfi J.P., Duy P.Q., DeSpenza Jr T., Furey C.G., Reeves B.C., Smith H., Sousa A. M. M., Cherksov A., Allocco A., Nelson-Williams C., Haider S., Rizvi S.R.A., Alper S.L., Sestan N., Shimelis H., Walsh L.K., Lifton R.P., Moreno-De-Luca A., Jin S.C., Kruszka P., Deniz E., Kahle K.

Elevated levels of FMRP-target MAP1B impair human and mouse neuronal development and mouse social behaviors via autophagy pathway. Guo Y., Shen M., Dong Q., Méndez-Albelo N.M., Huang S.X., Sirois C.L., Le J., Li M., Jarzembowski E.D., Schoeller K.A., Stockton M.E., Horner V.L., Sousa A. M. M., Gao Y., Birth Defects Research Laboratory, Levine J.E., Wang D., Chang Q., Zhao X.