Autism Consortium names James F. Gusella, PhD, as Senior Science Advisor
In that role, Gusella will serve as the scientific leader focused on strengthening the relationship between autism research and treatment.
Dr. Gusella is director of the Center for Human Genetic Research at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Bullard Professor of Neurogenetics at Harvard Medical School. He has been part of the Autism Consortium’s scientific leadership since its founding in 2006, and helped to not only shape its research agenda but also to contribute key scientific knowledge that helps other scientists and clinicians understand autism’s biological underpinnings.
“Dr. Gusella is one of the Autism Consortium’s founding visionaries, and continually demonstrates that we can work together to find new approaches to important medical challenges,” said Peter Barrett, President of the Autism Consortium Board of Directors. “Jim is central to our effort to find which genes are involved in autism and understand the biochemical pathways they control, an approach that could help us design therapies targeting autism’s core biological origins. And as senior science advisor, he will help to integrate our basic research with outreach to other biomedical research scientists, families, and caregivers, keeping the Autism Consortium focused on its real goal: results that matter for patients and families, as quickly as possible.”
As an architect of the Autism Consortium’s collaborative research model, he is enthusiastic about what it can accomplish. “Our collaborative approach—including not only many varieties of scientists and physicians, but also patients and their families—is the best way to grapple with the complex problem of autism. Our aim is to start with patients, learn what genes and mechanisms are involved, and return to patients with solutions. Each stage in our research cycle contributes to the next, and our comprehensive approach may not only help us understand the causes of autism and develop responses, but also possible intervention strategies. I’m excited to help lead this research effort. Autism can’t be cured in a single lab, and through the Consortium we have the right people and resources to meet the challenge today.”
In addition to directing the CHGR and its Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Dr. Gusella is Director of the Harvard Medical School Center for Neurofibromatosis and Allied Disorders, Associate Director of the Harvard Medical School-Partners Healthcare Center for Genetics and Genomics and an Associate Member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Dr. Gusella pioneered the use of DNA markers for mapping unknown human disease genes by linkage analysis. His demonstration in the 1980’s of the power of this approach by assignment of the Huntington Disease gene to chromosome 4 galvanized both the neuroscience and human genetics communities and gained widespread attention in the public press. It also set off a torrent of similar studies in other disorders, providing an early impetus to the idea of the Human Genome Project. His laboratory has also participated in the initial mapping or the actual gene cloning in many other disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), among many others. His work has been recognized with numerous honors, including among others the Metropolitan Life Foundation Award for Medical Research, the National Health Council Award for Medical Research (to the Huntington’s Disease Collaborative Group), the J. Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine, the King Faisal International Prize in Medicine, the Dana Award for Pioneering Achievement in Health, the Lois Pope LIFE International Research Award, the Neuronal Plasticity Award of the IPSEN Foundation, and the Robert S. Dow Award for Neuroscience.
About the Autism Consortium
The Autism Consortium is a collaboration of some of the world’s leading clinicians and researchers dedicated to supporting families—immediately improving care and developing new therapies. The Consortium was founded in 2006 by a visionary group in Boston who recognized that the problem of autism was too great to solve piecemeal, too urgent to address incrementally. Its integrated clinical and research program leverages the world-class strengths of 70 leading scientists and physicians, breaking down barriers that so often stand between the patients and families, and the support they need. The Consortium’s exceptional network includes departments from major medical centers and major research institutions in the Boston area. Consortium members include: Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine and Boston University, the Broad Institute, Children’s Hospital, The Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center, Cambridge Health Alliance, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School and Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Visit www.autismconsortium.org to learn more.