The meeting brought together families with a child carrying deletions or duplications in chromosomal region 16p11.2 and researchers studying 16p11.2.

Mouse models provide an essential platform for studying the neural circuits underlying autism spectrum disorders.

New collaboration will collect critically needed brain tissue for autism research

SFARI director of clinical research Wendy Chung presented What We Know About Autism to those gathered in Vancouver, Canada, for the TED2014 conference on March 19, 2014. The talk, geared to the lay public during Autism Awareness Month, covered topics ranging from reasons for increased autism prevalence to the role genetics plays in the disorder.

The Simons Foundation is pleased to announce that Louis F. Reichardt of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) will become the next director of the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI). He is to begin his official duties at the foundation’s New York City offices in July.

More than 100 investigators and clinicians who worked together on the Simons Simplex Collection gathered in New York City to celebrate their landmark achievement in autism research.

SFARI scientific director Gerald Fischbach and principal investigator Catherine Lord of the University of Michigan published The Simons Simplex Collection: A Resource for Identification of Autism Genetic Risk Factors on 21 October in the journal Neuron.

In a milestone for the autism research community, SFARI has finished recruiting families to participate in the Simons Simplex Collection (SSC). The foundation has now shifted from recruitment of these families to supporting their continued participation in future research studies.