Scientific Workshop Summary: Biology January 15, 2008
The workshop chair, David Amaral, Ph.D., reported that the Biology workshop, which included a broad representation of scientists, first listed autism spectrum disorder (ASD) research topics and then sorted the topics into thematic areas. The workshop participants identified several high priority areas: the quantity and quality of brain/tissue; prenatal and early postnatal diagnostic biomarkers for ASD; analysis of effects of treatment/interventions on brain plasticity; realistic animal and cellular models for treatment development and testing; immune or infectious risk factors for ASD; improved brain imaging techniques for children under age three; and more biological studies of ASD in females.
Presentations of the Workshop Chairs to the Strategic Planning Workgroup (February 2008)
Biology Workshop Participants
| David Amaral, Ph.D. - Chair Professor University of California, Davis MIND Institute |
Allan Jones, Ph.D. Chief Scientific Officer Allen Institute for Brain Science |
| Anthony Bailey, M.B.B.S. Professor, Psychiatry University of Oxford |
A. Kimberley McAllister, Ph.D. Associate Professor University of California, Davis |
| Patrick Bolton, Ph.D., F.R.C. Psych. Professor Institute of Psychiatry, London |
Valerie Paradiz, Ph.D Co-founder, Open Center for Autism |
| Eric Courchesne, Ph.D. Professor, Neuroscience University of California, San Diego |
Carlos Pardo-Villamizar, M.D. Associate Professor, Neurology and Pathology Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| Jacqueline Crawley, Ph.D. Chief, Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience National Institute of Mental Health |
Robert Schultz, Ph.D. Director, Center for Autism Research Children's Hospital of Philadelphia |
| Martha Herbert, M.D., Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Pediatric Neurology Massachusetts General Hospital |
Susan Swedo, M.D. Chief, Pediatrics and Developmental Neuropsychiatry Branch National Institute of Mental Health |
| Peter Hotez, M.D., Ph.D. Chair, Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine George Washington University |
Judy Van de Water, Ph.D. Professor, Division of Rheumatology/Allergy University of California, Davis |
