CENE Advisory Committee | UC Davis MIND Institute

Dr. Manuel F. Casanova is the SmartState Endowed Chair in Translational Childhood Neurotherapeutics for the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and the Greenville Health System. He belonged to the founding board of the National Alliance for Autism Research (now Autism Speaks) and the Autism Tissue Board. In 2016, Dr. Casanova was elected president of the International Consortium of Autism Institutes (ICAI). Dr. Casanova has provided a large number of plenary lectures including a magisterial presentation at the World Congress of Autism. His research has been recognized by a EUREKA award from the NIMH for the introduction of repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) in the therapy of autism.

Dr. Paul Hagerman is a molecular geneticist with a principal interest in understanding the basis for neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases. In particular, the Hagerman laboratory has made a number of important observations related to the mechanism of gene expression of the fragile X (FMR1) gene, mutations of which are responsible for fragile X syndrome, the leading heritable form of mental impairment and leading known cause of autism.
In 2001, Dr. Hagerman and his wife, Dr. Randi Hagerman (Medical Director of the MIND Institute and clinical director of the CENE California node), reported their discovery of a neurological disorder involving tremor and gait ataxia, which they later named fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS).

Dr. Patrick Hof is the Dorothy and Irving Regenstreif Professor in the Nash Family Department of Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai where he directs the Glickenhaus Center for Successful Aging, and the Kastor Neurobiology of Aging Laboratories. His laboratory has extensive expertise in the pathology of neuropsychiatric disorders and has established an international reputation in quantitative approaches to neuroanatomy and neuropathology, and studies of brain evolution. Dr. Hof is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Comparative Neurology and is a fellow of the American Association of Anatomists.

Dr. Eric London is an Autism Science Foundation scientific advisory board member, NAAR co-founder, director of the Autism Treatment Laboratory at the New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, and chief science advisor of the New York State Autism Consortium. In June 2011, Max Rolison, an intern at the Autism Science Foundation interviewed Dr. London on the importance of brain tissue research.