Maude David, an assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology, is part of a two-year $1.94 million grant to identify possible connections between the human microbiome and autism spectrum disorder.
The goal is to use data from the microbiome — the community of organisms that live in a person’s gut — in the search for new treatments for autism spectrum disorder, a developmental disorder that affects communication and behavior.
In the United States, roughly one child in 70 has autism spectrum disorder; boys are four times as likely as girls to have the condition. Symptoms usually appear by age two.
David will collaborate with researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Second Genome, a company based in South San Francisco, California, on the two-year project funded by a federal Small Business Innovation Research grant.
The grant will support the study of key metabolites produced by microbes in patients with central nervous system disorders, particularly autism. Some of those metabolites may be able to pass through the blood-brain barrier, which protects the brain from toxins in the bloodstream, and negatively affect the central nervous system.