Published: 06/3/2013
Pamela Lein, Ph.D., is a Professor at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in the Department of Molecular Biosciences. Dr. Lein received her Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo and her MSEH from East Tennessee State University. She has previously held faculty appointments at Oregon Health and Science University and at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her areas of interest include cell and molecular mechanisms of developmental neurotoxicology, gene-environment interactions that influence susceptibility to neurodevelopmental disorders, and the role of the autonomic nervous system in environmentally-induced asthma and cardiovascular disease.
Behavioral and Brain Signatures of Autism in Females
Kaustubh Supekar, Ph.D., examines recent findings about gender/sex differences in autism phenotypes and brain organization. He highlights the underrepresentation of females in autism and underscores the need for a large-scale science approach. The
Setting Priorities for Autism Research
Autism organizations, individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and parents have differing views on how best to proceed with autism research. However, nearly all of us can agree that the progress that
Possible Fat-Related Biomarker Detected in Very Young Children with Autism
Researchers in Japan report that they have identified a possible biomarker for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in very young children. Noting that both low birth weight and obesity in infancy are
Editorial: Debating the Role of Genetics in Autism
The history of autism is replete with arguments about its underlying causes and treatments—and frequently over the past 50 years, these arguments have involved genetics. While it is generally accepted that genes
Gene-Environment Interactions in Autism: Research Updates
Valerie W. Hu, Ph.D., discusses gene-environmental interactions pertaining to autism. She describes how integrative genomics studies on autism led to investigating endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) as environmental risk factors for autism and presents
Research on Microbiota Transfer Therapy in Patients with ASD
Dr. Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown, Ph.D., discusses her recent studies on gut microbiota in individuals with autism who have gastrointestinal (GI) problems. She outlines what we know about human microbiomes, how they interact with our bodies,