Seminars in Neuroscience: Brain, Mind, and Society Lecture: Autism Spectrum Disorder: From Genetics to Mechanisms
Maria Chahrour Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Neuroscience and Psychiatry, Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development, Center for the Genetics of Host Defense, University of Texas-Southwestern
Wednesday, Nov. 6, 4:00 p.m.
1220 MRB III Lecture Hall
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex group of individually rare neurological conditions. The major obstacles to gene discovery in ASD are the extreme diversity in the clinical symptom of patients as well as the complex genetic makeup of the disorder. Next-generation sequencing technologies have allowed for recent strides in the genetics of ASD, while the molecular mechanisms underlying disease pathogenesis have remained elusive hindering therapy development. Dr. Chahrour's talk will provide an overview of current areas of emphasis in ASD genetics, focusing on how we can leverage shared ancestry to identify recessively inherited ASD mutations. I will discuss one example of a neurodevelopmental disease gene with recessive mutations, UBE3B, that functions in protein turnover and the molecular mechanisms underlying disease in this example.
Co-sponsor Vanderbilt Brain Institute
No registration is necessary.
For more information, contact (615) 322-8240.