BGU and Emory University Partner on Autism Research
BGU and Emory University Partner on Autism Research
January 21, 2020
Atlanta Jewish Times – Emory University’s Prof. Jack Arbiser, M.D., Ph.D., began a relationship between Emory and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), and is collaborating with BGU’s Prof. Ilan Dinstein on autism research.
Emory University’s Prof. Jack Arbiser, M.D., Ph.D.
Emory was already investigating autism and Atlanta is the home of the Marcus Autism Center. Dr. Arbiser, a dermatology professor at Emory’s School of Medicine, has been working on autism therapy and possible cures for many years.
After visiting Israel and several universities, Prof. Arbiser was particularly impressed with what was happening at BGU in Beer-Sheva. The contacts he developed have resulted in faculty and students from BGU and Emory spending time at the other university, learning and conducting research in a number of departments across both universities. Prof. Dinstein, head of the National Autism Research Center of Israel, visited Emory in October.
Researchers at BGU have recently shown in a new study that brain waves of children with autism are weaker during sleep than those of typically developing children. This shallow sleep keeps them from deeper sleep, which is critical for adequate rest and rejuvenation.
BGU’s Prof. Ilan Dinstein, Ph.D.
Prof. Dinstein has shown that there is a direct correlation between these sleep difficulties and autism. He and his team are looking at behavioral therapies and pharmacological alternatives, and hope for, someday, a cure.
Looking into the future, Prof. Arbiser sees the road to innovation as long and risky. “It takes years of hard work, but pays off in the end.”
Read more on the Atlanta Jewish Times website >>
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