USC to Host Major Autism Conference

“Shared Neurobiology of Autism and Related Disorders,” a three-day conference on the overlap between autism and other developmental disorders, will take place June 11 - 13 at the University of Southern California. According to organizer Steven Moldin, executive director for research advancement for the University of Southern California, the conference will explore will explore “the new frontier for neuroscience research."

The conference, which was awarded to USC after a competitive peer-review process, is sponsored by four institutes at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the NIH Office of the Director and six private foundations: Autism Speaks, Fragile X Research Foundation, Rett Syndrome Research Foundation, Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center, Simons Foundation, Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance.

Organizers expect the conference to help determine the direction of hundreds of millions of dollars in future research funding for autism and related disorders.

Presenters include:
- Cori Bargmann, Howard Hughes Medical Institute/Rockefeller University
- Michel Baudry, University of Southern California
- Roberta Diaz Brinton, University of Southern California
– Geoffrey Duyk, TPG Growth Biotech
- Fred Gage, Salk Institute
- Daniel Geschwind, University of California, Los Angeles
- Michael Greenberg, Harvard Medical School/Children's Hospital Boston
– Stephen Warren, Emory University
- Huda Zoghbi, Howard Hughes Medical Institute/Baylor College of Medicine

For more information, contact Carl Marziali, marziali@usc.edu, (213) 740-4751 or (213) 219-6347