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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 …

The SFARI Gene website has been redesigned. The updated platform features a streamlined user interface and new data visualizations, which were engineered with the aim of making it …

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.

Whole-genome sequencing data for a total of 8,975 genomes from the Simons Simplex Collection are now available. This includes 2,174 genomes that have been available …

New Simons VIP Phase 2 data have recently been added to SFARI Base. This data release includes phenotypic data from individuals with 16p11.2 copy number variants (CNVs …

This issue of the SFARI newsletter includes: (1) 2017 Bridge to Independence Award request for applications, (2) Application process for recruiting SPARK participants into new research studies is …

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.

SFARI is pleased to announce that SPARK has launched its research matching program, through which researchers can apply to recruit the SPARK cohort into new research studies. Researchers …

A SFARI channel now exists on bioRxiv, one of the most used preprint servers for biology. This channel should help readers to find preprints reporting SFARI-funded research …

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 …

Updated medical, developmental and educational outcomes information on a subset of families who participated in the Simons Simplex Collection (SSC) — a total of 440 families — is now available …

Presentations that will be given by SFARI Investigators at the 2017 International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR) in San Francisco (May 10-13) are highlighted.

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 …

Christopher Gregg and colleagues demonstrate that diverse epigenetic mechanisms affect allele-specific gene expression in the mammalian brain.

SFARI Investigator Liqun Luo discusses the neurodevelopmental disorder Smith-Magenis syndrome and his lab’s efforts to understand its underlying biology.

As an organization dedicated to the advancement of scientific knowledge, the Simons Foundation stands united with the scientists and institutions we support in their opposition to the recently …

Kevin Bender and Stephan Sanders show that ASD-associated SCN2A variants lead to impaired NaV1.2 channel activity and reduced neuronal excitability.

Amiel Rosenkranz and colleagues have identified a specific intra-amygdala circuit, from the lateral nucleus to the medial nucleus, which is critical for social learning.

Lauren Weiss and colleagues used a reverse pathway genetic approach, focused on the RAS/MAPK pathway, to show that gene-gene interactions contribute to autism.

This issue of the SFARI newsletter includes: (1) SFARI 2016 Bridge to Independence Award finalists announced, (2) SFARI 2016 Explorer awardees announced, (3) Simons Variation in Individuals Project …

New data were added to SFARI Gene in December 2016. This data release included updated gene scores for candidate autism risk genes, new animal models, and new copy …

New Simons VIP Phase 2 data have recently been added to SFARI Base. This data release includes phenotypic data from individuals with 16p11.2 copy number variants (CNVs …

SFARI is pleased to announce that it has selected six finalists in response to the 2016 Bridge to Independence Award request for applications. This awards program is intended …

SFARI is pleased to announce that it has awarded 14 grants over the past year in response to the Explorer Awards request for applications.

Gaia Novarino and Joseph Gleeson find impaired amino acid transport into brain causes ASD-like symptoms in mice, and uncover transport mutations in individuals with ASD.

This issue of the SFARI newsletter includes: (1) SFARI 2016 Pilot and Research awardees announced, (2) SPARK Clinical Site Network – Request for applications, (3) SFARI Explorer Awards – Request …

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 …

By examining SNPs from ASD datasets, Lauren Weiss finds that genetic mechanisms regulating general sex differences, such as height and weight, contribute to autism risk.

By assessing a Chinese autism cohort, Evan Eicher establishes the importance of de novo mutations for conferring autism risk in both European and Chinese populations.

Suitable biomarkers are needed to assess treatment outcomes in ASD. Pamela Ventola has developed fMRI biomarkers that allow accurate prediction of intervention success.

Betty Diamond reports on a method to isolate monoclonal brain-reactive antibodies from plasma obtained from mothers in the SSC, showing their in utero exposure can cause ASD.

Benjamin Cheyette finds higher rates of DIXDCI disruptions in individuals with ASD, schizophrenia or bipolar, and DIXDC1 signaling rescue improves mouse ASD-like behaviors.

Using sequencing data from the Simons Simplex Collection, Zhenglong Gu found an enrichment of predicted pathogenic mutations in mitochondrial DNA in autism.

This issue of the SFARI newsletter includes: (1) SPARK update, (2) SFARI Social at Neuroscience 2016, (3) Presentations by SFARI Investigators at Neuroscience 2016, (4) 2017 Pilot and …

Presentations that will be given by SFARI Investigators at Neuroscience 2016 in San Diego (November 12-16) are highlighted.

Rudolf Jaenisch has developed a method enabling the generation of microglia-like cells from human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells.

Liqun Luo uses conditional, cell-type-specific RAI1 deletions in mice to assess how loss of RAI1 contributes to neurodevelopmental phenotypes in Smith-Magenis syndrome.

By assessing human accelerated regions (HARs) in healthy individuals and those with ASD, Chris Walsh shows HARs regulate human social and cognitive behavior and ASD risk.

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 …

This blog post accompanies the “SFARI’s 2017 funding priorities” post. In it, the SFARI science team discusses the application and review process for Pilot and Research Awards.

This issue of the SFARI newsletter includes: (1) 2017 Pilot and Research Awards – Request for applications, (2) Simons Variation in Individuals Project (Simons VIP): New data now available …

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

This issue of the SFARI newsletter includes: (1) Update on Simons Simplex Collection whole-genome sequencing data availability, (2) Rat models for autism research, (3) Induced pluripotent stem …

Simons Center for Data Analysis scientist Olga Troyanskaya has developed a machine-learning tool that uses neural interaction networks to predict autism risk genes.

Huda Zoghbi and Stelios Smirnakis investigate how opposing molecular deficits in MeCP2 duplication and Rett syndromes lead to similar behavioral phenotypes.

Plans are underway to perform whole-genome sequencing of the entire Simons Simplex Collection (SSC). Genomes from 553 families (2,174 genomes) have been sequenced and are available …

Evan Eichler reconstructs the evolution of chromosome 16p11.2 and finds most disease-causing rearrangements map within a H. sapiens-specific duplication containing BOLA2.

Beth Stevens shows that, in MeCP2 null mice, microglia excessively eliminate presynaptic inputs, targeting synapses previously weakened by MeCP2 loss in other CNS cell types.