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

Steven Hyman discusses the use of disease model systems to study neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental conditions, highlighting their benefits and limitations, and stressing the importance of knowing what questions …

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.

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 …

SFARI senior scientist Alan Packer, SPARK director Pamela Feliciano, and former Simons Searchlight outreach manager Misia Kowanda discuss differences and similarities between the ASD gene lists maintained by …

Simon Chen and colleagues found that a reduction in locus-coeruleus noradrenaline neuromodulatory signaling contributes to altered motor learning in 16p11.2 deletion mice.

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 …

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

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.

Lilia Iakoucheva and colleagues found that mice lacking a copy of the high-confidence ASD risk gene Cul3 have reduced brain volumes, potentially due to defects in Rho …

Melissa Gymrek and colleagues developed a framework for the identification and prioritization of de novo mutations at tandem repeats on a genome-wide scale and assessed their contribution …

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

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

Bilal Haider and colleagues found that Cntnap2 knockout mice exhibited deficits in visual perception and that these were associated with diminished excitation and elevated inhibition in the visual …

Jun Huh and colleagues found that maternal immune responses to infection may at least partially explain sex-specific differences in autism risk.

SFARI is pleased to announce that it intends to award 11 grants in response to the 2021 Human Cognitive and Behavioral Science request for applications.

A recent study has uncovered new ASD inherited genetic risk variants. Over of the 50 percent of the genetic data used in the study came from SPARK.

Michael Platt and colleagues found that monkeys create complex internal representations of social situations and uncovered neural circuitry supporting social cooperation.

SFARI consultant-in-residence Gaspar Taroncher-Oldenburg discusses his work and collaboration with the Simons Foundation Flatiron Institute to study the microbiome and its potential implications for ASD …

A number of SFARI Investigators, collaborators and Simons Foundation scientists will present their latest research findings at the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) 2021 Virtual Meeting, which …

SFARI held a virtual version of its spring science meeting in a series of four webinars in April and May 2021. The webinars were organized around themes of …

Zebrafish lines for autism risk genes DYNC1H1 and MEF2C have been recently added to SFARI resources to study autism spectrum disorder.

On June 25 and 28, 2021, SFARI hosted a workshop to discuss sleep challenges in autism and learn more about ways to improve sleep quality in individuals with …

J. Elliott Robinson talks about his lab’s work on the neural circuits involved in neurofibromatosis type 1 and developing gene therapy treatments for the condition, and how …

Stelios Smirnakis and Huda Zoghbi observed an increase in the formation and stabilization of dendritic spine clusters in the cortex of MECP2 duplication syndrome mice.

Evan Eichler and colleagues used targeted sequencing in large neurodevelopmental cohorts, including SPARK, to identify new risk genes and relate genotype to phenotypic presentation.

Pawan Sinha and colleagues found that sensory habituation is reduced in autism, and furthermore, that this reduction correlates with behavioral assessments of social communication and sensory difficulties.

SFARI is pleased to announce that it intends to fund four grants in response to the Maternal COVID-19 as a Potential Risk for Autism: Supplemental Funding for …

SFARI is pleased to announce that it has selected six fellows in response to the 2021 Bridge to Independence Award request for applications.

Since launching in 2016, SPARK has driven scientific discovery in autism, building a cohort of over 280,000 individuals, including more than 100,000 children and adults with …

Researchers interested in requesting brain tissue from Autism BrainNet can now submit their applications through SFARI Base, SFARI’s clearinghouse for autism and autism-related research data and …

SFARI is pleased to announce that it intends to fund five collaborative groups in response to the 2020 SFARI Collaboration on Sex Differences in Autism request for applications.

New study in Nature Genetics uses SPARK database to investigate variants that are less damaging than de novo mutations, but contribute almost as much risk.

Vikaas Sohal and John Rubenstein found that Pogz heterozygous mice exhibited reduced anxiety-related avoidance behavior and that this correlated with impaired communication between the ventral hippocampus and …

Three SFARI Investigators and the deputy director of Clinical Research Associates, LLC (an affiliate of the Simons Foundation) were recently appointed to serve on the Interagency Autism Coordinating …

Vanessa Troiani and colleagues demonstrated a linear relationship between pupil dilation, reward/punishment sensitivity and individual ASD diagnostic status.

Robi Mitra and colleagues have developed a scalable CRISPR/Cas9 RNA sequencing assay in a human neuronal differentiation cell model, enabling high-throughput assessments of how repression of …

… health volunteer in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and as editor and researcher for the Journal of Public Health in Africa. Her experiences …

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 …

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 …

SFARI announces the recipients of the Autism BrainNet Appreciation Award, a new honor that recognizes outstanding partners and collaborators for their dedication to advancing brain tissue research in …

Ten years after its launch, Simons Searchlight counts a community of 4,000 families, encompassing more than 150 genetic neurodevelopmental conditions. Thanks to the dedicated, highly motivated families …

The International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) Virtual 2021 Annual Meeting was held May 3–7, 2021. A selection of presentations by SFARI Investigators, SFARI staff and collaborators …

Elizabeth Jonas and colleagues identified a molecular mechanism underlying the contributions of mitochondrial dysfunction to the synaptic and behavioral features associated with fragile X syndrome.

Hirofumi Morishita and colleagues showed that juvenile social isolation leads to deficits in adult mouse sociability via reduced activation of a prefrontal-paraventricular thalamus circuit.

Six researchers who have received support from the Simons Foundation are among the latest group of prominent artists, scholars, scientists and leaders elected as fellows of the American …

New Simons Searchlight data were recently added to SFARI Base. This data release included phenotypic data from individuals with 16p11.2 copy number variants (CNVs), 1q21.1 CNVs …

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, SFARI ran the fall 2020 science meeting virtually in a series of six weekly webinars, beginning on October 2, 2020. SFARI investigators presented …