Experts review recent advances and share outlook for the future at UCSF Autism Symposium

Poster session

UCSF Autism Symposium attendees take part in a poster session in Genentech Hall.

UCSF hosted leading minds from Boston Children’s Hospital, Emory University, Harvard Medical School, MIT, Stanford University, Yale University, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Simons Foundation last week for a full-day seminar devoted to exploring progress in diagnostics, neuroimaging, therapeutics, genomics and neurobiology relating to autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Among the numerous speakers were department faculty members John L.R. Rubenstein, MD, PhD, speaking about PTEN function in cortical interneurons, and Matthew W. State, MD, PhD, who reviewed recent advances in the genomics of ASD.

In addition to the slate of speakers, the symposium featured a lively research poster session. Participants from the department included Joaquin Anguera, PhD; Vanessa Hus Bal, PhD; Stephen Bent, MD; Somer Bishop, PhD; Mayur Desai, PhD, MPH; Adam Gazzaley, MD, PhD; Robert Hendren, DO; Patricia Hong; Rehab Khalil, PhD; Young Shin Kim, MD, PhD, MPH; Yun-Joo Koh, PhD; Sindy Law, MS; Brittany Lawton; Bennett Leventhal, MD; Elysa Marco, MD; Stephan Sanders, PhD; Vikaas Sohal, MD, PhD; Matthew W. State, MD, PhD; Louw Smith; Lauren Weiss, PhD; Felicia Widjaja, MPH; Jeremy Willsey, PhD; and Gyeyoon Yim, MPH, as well as visiting scholars Celso Arango, MD, and Maria Parellada, MD.

The event was co-sponsored by the UCSF Graduate Education in Medical Sciences (GEMS) Program, the UCSF Neuroscience Graduate Program, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Photos from the symposium have been posted on the department Flickr page.