The Jenkins lab, along with Dr. Kevin Bender and his lab at the University of California-San Francisco, received a new R01 from the National Institute of Mental Health titled “Convergent mechanisms for neurodevelopmental disorder genes”. Autism spectrum disorder is an early onset, life-long disorder that affects approximately 1% of the population, and is defined by fundamental impairments in social communication and restricted or repetitive behavior or interests. This work focuses on understanding how dysfunctions in two autism-linked genes ANK2 and SCN2A affect neuronal function. This project will shed light on the cellular and molecular mechanisms that contribute to the disorder, and potentially identify new avenues for therapeutic intervention. Congrats to everyone involved! We are very much looking forward to the next five years (plus) of collaboration with Kevin and his team!