Usually diagnosed in early childhood, neurodevelopmental disorders can affect or impair movement, coordination, speech and learning.
There are no known cures, meaning early diagnosis and targeted therapies are essential for improving outcomes and quality of life. More research is also needed to better understand why these disorders develop in order to improve diagnosis and treatments.
Neurodevelopmental Disorders Support
Investigating genetic and environmental causes of neurodevelopmental disorders through a unique identical twin study, with the hope of identifying ‘at risk’ infants earlier which will lead to earlier diagnosis, more targeted therapies and improved quality of life for children with neurodevelopmental disorders, particularly cerebral palsy.
Researcher
Dr Clare Van Eyk is using technology known as Next Generation Sequencing to help identify a large number of genetic and environmental links to neurodevelopmental disorders.
Exploring how a particular type of neuron becomes deficient in the brain of schizophrenic and autistic patients, with the hope to provide new ways to diagnose, predict and treat schizophrenia and autism.
Researcher
Associate Professor Quenten Schwarz is leading the research, focused on neurons called ‘parvalbumin interneurons’.
