$5 million grant from NIH will enable UCLA to develop new models for autism

December 11, 2017

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/5-million-grant-from-nih-will-enable-ucla-to-d…

Many genes that increase the risk of autism spectrum disorders have been identified, but their mechanisms remain largely unknown. Now a team of UCLA researchers has received a five-year grant of more than $5 million from the National Institutes of Health to support its work to identify those mechanisms.

Led by Dr. Daniel Geschwind at UCLA, researchers will work with counterparts at Stanford University to assess the specific impact of genetic mutations on alterations in molecular, cellular and neural circuitry. “Both institutions have learned so much in recent years about the myriad individual changes behind autism spectrum disorders, but we still don’t understand the impact of those changes or how they work together,” Geschwind said. “This grant will help us to collaboratively identify the missing pieces of the puzzle.”