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 Committee.

The Simons Foundation is delighted to announce that neuroscientist Kelsey Martin will be the next director of SFARI. Starting in September 2021, she will helm SFARI’s continuing work to improve the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders by funding innovative high-quality research.

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 field through the Summer Undergraduate Research Program.

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 autism.

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 who have participated in research, genetic and phenotypic data and biospecimens have been collected for several of these conditions, providing researchers with invaluable resources to advance the understanding of autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions.

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 are highlighted here. Virtual content is available online until early June 2021 (for registered meeting participants only).

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, 7q11.23 duplication and variants in 32 single genes associated with autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions.

SFARI would like to express our emphatic dedication to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion among our staff and our grantees, as well as our commitment to fighting systemic racism of all marginalized groups.