SFARI

This issue of the SFARI newsletter includes: (1) Presentations by SFARI Investigators at Neuroscience 2018, (2) Simons VIP: New data release, (3) AIMS-2-Trials has launched, (4) A Conversation with Paul Wang, Deputy Director of Clinical Research Associates, (5) 2019 SPARK Clinical Site Network – Request for Applications, (6) SFARI Social at Neuroscience 2018, (7) Past lecture: Richard Lifton, “From genes and genomes to biology and health”.

This issue of the SFARI newsletter includes: (1) Third-party gene scores added to SFARI Gene, (2) SFARI Explorer Awards - Request for Applications, (3) Highlights of SFARI-funded research, (4) Upcoming lecture: Shafali Spurling Jeste, "On the road to precision health: Brain-based biomarkers in autism spectrum disorder", (5) Past lecture: Matthew Siegel, "Arousal, emotion regulation and challenging behaviors: Insights from the Autism Inpatient Collection".

SFARI is pleased to announce that it has awarded 27 grants (21 Pilot Awards and 6 Research Awards) in response to the 2016 Pilot and Research Awards request for applications. 

This issue of the SFARI newsletter includes: (1) SPARK update, (2) Simons Simplex Collection: Updated medical and educational data now available, (3) SFARI Gene: New data available, (4) SFARI at IMFAR 2017, (5) Presentations by SFARI Investigators at IMFAR 2017, (6) Special Interest Group at IMFAR 2017: Promoting partnerships between patient advocacy groups and researchers to improve autism research, (7) A Conversation with SFARI Investigator Liqun Luo, (8) Highlights of SFARI-funded research, (9) Past lecture: Stephan Sanders, “What can genetics tell us about autism spectrum disorder?”, (10) Past lecture: Mark Zylka, “Exploiting genetics to identify environmental risks for autism”.

SFARI is pleased to announce that it has awarded five grants in response to the Whole-Genome Analysis for Autism Risk Variants request for applications. We are also announcing plans for the release of whole-genome sequencing data from the Simons Simplex Collection (SSC) for analysis by the entire research community.

SFARI Investigator Sung Han discusses his lab’s work and how the Bridge to Independence Award helped him launch his independent career in autism research.

On April 10, 2018, SFARI held a workshop to discuss online platforms for visualizing and analyzing SFARI genomics data. These platforms included the Genotypes and Phenotypes in Families web interface, created by SFARI Investigator Ivan Iossifov’s team, and Hub.iobio, which is currently being developed by Frameshift.

SFARI held its 15th science meeting April 7–9, 2019. Over 100 SFARI investigators, collaborators and foundation staff convened to discuss recent findings on the genetics, molecular- and system-level mechanisms and clinical aspects of autism spectrum disorder. In addition to keynote and session presentations, the meeting hosted a panel on animal behavior and demonstrations of online tools for visualizing and analyzing data sets relevant for autism research.

In this blog post, the SFARI science team provides insight into SFARI’s scientific priorities. A number of experimental design issues to consider when preparing a grant application in response to the 2018 Pilot and Research Awards RFA are also discussed.

Sharmila Banerjee-Basu, founder and chief scientific officer at MindSpec Inc., discusses SFARI Gene and how it is changing the face of autism genetics research.