Descripción: IGC. Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência «Research Interests: Our main research interest is the genetic basis of complex traits, with a major focus on behavioral pathologies such as autism spectrum disorders. Autism is a chronic behavioral disorder characterized by deficiencies in social interaction, verbal and non-verbal communication and repetitive and stereotyped behaviors, and by a wide variability in symptom severity among patients. Although educational/behavioral intervention and pharmacological therapy can be sometimes helpful, they do not represent a cure for this disorder. The pathophysiology of autism is not understood, but the familiar aggregation of the disease and of other disorders in the spectrum are strong indicators of a genetic contribution, with the involvement of multiple genes.»
