Transforming neurodevelopmental disorders using multi scale imaging and genomics

Epilepsy and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are common conditions that show high comorbidity. Genetic abnormalities and neurodevelopmental brain lesions both confer high risk of developing ASD and epilepsy. Despite the significant advances in imaging neuroscience and genetics, there remains a lack of computational tools that bridge across genetics, imaging and clinical phenotypic data to generate individual-level in vivo biomarkers for deeper mechanistic insights and translational impact. This proposal aims to address this gap by pursuing three main objectives: WP1: develop computational tools to identify individual subject-level imaging abnormalities in neurodevelopmental disorders WP2: create a multiscale genetic, cellular and imaging framework to identify the common and diverging neurobiological pathways in epilepsy and ASD. WP3: using rare genetic cohorts with ASD and epilepsy, demonstrate the effectiveness of these tools in linking genetic, imaging and clinical phenotypic data. Successful achievement of these goals will pave the way for establishing an interdisciplinary research field at the intersection of neuroimaging, neurogenomics, and neurodevelopment. It would advance our understanding of these complex conditions and ultimately improve patient treatment strategies and outcomes.