Understanding the genetics of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been a major focus of interest for Pauline Chaste since her early research training, using different approaches, from basic science techniques to clinical phenotyping. As a psychiatrist, Chaste has always been particularly interested in trying to understand the enigma of clinical heterogeneity in ASD.

During her Ph.D., under the supervision of Thomas Bourgeron in Paris, Chaste’s work focused on rare mutation screening and thorough clinical assessment of individuals with rare mutations. Then, during a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in Bernie Devlin’s computational genetics lab in Pittsburgh, Chaste acquired solid training in statistical modeling and contributed research that demonstrated the value of quantitative approaches for evaluating genotype-phenotype correlations.

Currently, Chaste heads the management of the Expert Center for ASD Diagnosis and Research at the Sainte Anne Hospital (Paris 5 University). There, her work utilizes both clinical experience and statistical training to elucidate the architecture of ASD genetic risk. Her team also maintains an ongoing collaboration with Devlin on the statistical modeling of existing data.