EP 188: Cracking the code of autism through genetics with Daniel Geschwind of UCLA

Summary: 

This week on The Genetics Podcast, Patrick is joined by Daniel Geschwind, Professor, Senior Associate Dean, and Associate Vice Chancellor of Precision Health at UCLA. They discuss the circuitous career path that led Daniel to building a biobank that provided the foundation for autism genetics, the complexity of the molecular and genetic aspects of autism, and how gene therapies could advance treatment. 

Show Notes: 

0:00 Intro to The Genetics Podcast

00:59 Welcome to Daniel and how he transitioned from being a chemistry teacher and consultant to an academic clinician

05:51 How a year filming ski movies helped Daniel decide what he wanted to do after college

07:29 How Daniel got started in autism research and established a biobank that built the foundation for autism genetics

11:38 Our current understanding of autism on the molecular and genetic levels

18:04 The spectrum nature of autism and how it correlates to molecular and genetic differences 

25:13 The potential convergence of variants of autism on common pathways and corresponding therapeutics

31:18 Evidence for the early developmental etiology of autism and the complexity of the genetic aspect

35:56 The developmental window for gene therapies in autism and the need for concurrent training  

38:41 Successes and barriers to data sharing and collaboration, and the importance of biobanks and functional mapping

51:40 Developing computational tools for a network approach to transcriptomes

55:28 Closing remarks

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