On January 26, 2018, SFARI held a workshop to discuss the use of zebrafish in autism research. Experts in both rodent and fish models discussed key issues in the field, including zebrafish mutant construct validity, the visualization of circuit development and function, and high-throughput phenotyping and pharmacological screens for translational opportunities.
SFARI is pleased to announce that it intends to fund 36 grants (15 Pilot Awards and 21 Research Awards) in response to the 2018 Pilot and Research Awards request for applications.
SFARI held its thirteenth science meeting April 8–12, 2018. SFARI investigators, collaborators and foundation staff came together to discuss recent findings in autism genetics, molecular and system-level mechanisms, and clinical studies. In addition to keynote and session presentations, two panels convened investigators to discuss the current state of autism genetics research and the biology of SCN2A, a high-confidence autism risk gene.
Using a battery of cutting-edge approaches, Song-Hai Shi will investigate lineage-dependent, precise, local and long-range cortical neuron circuit assembly in the Fmr1 knockout mouse model of fragile X syndrome.
Dulac aims to identify neurons activated during fever episodes and reveal how they may modulate neural circuits governing social interactions in mice. She also plans to study behavioral changes in autism mouse models during febrile periods.
Markus Meister will detect and analyze abnormal circuit functions of the retina in mouse models of autism in order to draw links between autism genes and neuronal circuit processing.