Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, SFARI replaced the in-person spring 2020 science meeting that was scheduled April 5–7 with a series of seven weekly webinars held between April 17 and May 29.
To further our goal of funding the best and most transformative research on autism, SFARI strives to strike a balance between open requests for grant applications (RFAs) on any autism-related topic and more targeted RFAs focused on top priorities identified by SFARI. In 2023, we will hold two calls for Pilot Awards and will reissue the Human Cognitive and Behavioral Science RFA and the Genomics of ASD RFA. We will also issue a call for projects that integrate the study of ASD-relevant behaviors across human and non-human species.
The generation of all-or-none action potentials is critical for proper brain function. At the heart of action potential generation are voltage-gated sodium channels, which underlie the rising, or depolarizing, phase of the action potential. Twelve different mutations in the SCN2A gene, which encodes the neuronal sodium channel NaV1.2, have been identified in two large autism genetic studies.
On April 26 and 29, 2021, SFARI and the Simons Initiative for the Developing Brain hosted a virtual workshop that focused on the use of rats as a model system for autism spectrum disorder. The workshop discussed advantages and limitations of using rat models, evaluated the need for cross-species studies and considered strategies to move the field forward.
The animal models module of SFARI Gene has recently been expanded to include two new species: Drosophila melanogaster and Danio rerio. As of now, the database lists 55 genes for Drosophila models and 24 genes for zebrafish models, in addition to several models induced by biological or chemical agents.
This issue of the SFARI newsletter includes: (1) SFARI launches SPARK, an online research initiative that aims to recruit 50,000 individuals with autism, (2) Upcoming lecture: Christopher Walsh, “One brain, many genomes: Somatic mutation and genomic variability in human cerebral cortex”.
In conjunction with leading universities across the county, SFARI works to provide undergraduates with an opportunity to advance their careers in autism science while promoting diversity in the field through the Summer Undergraduate Research Program.
SFARI Investigator Aakanksha Singhvi discusses her lab’s work and how the Bridge to Independence Award helped in her transition to working as an assistant professor.
New data were added to SFARI Gene in June. This data release included the addition of new human genes implicated in autism, new animal models, and new protein-protein and protein-nucleic-acid interactions of relevance for autism.
New data were added to SFARI Gene in March 2017. This data release included updated gene scores for candidate autism risk genes, new animal models, and new copy number variant loci associated with autism.