Biometals in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Biometals in Autism Spectrum Disorders focuses on trace metals and autism. Compared to other references examining ASDs or metallomics, this book presents findings of abnormal metal homeostasis in ASD, providing an overview of current findings on trace metal biology, its role in ASD etiology, and how abnormal trace metal biology may be a common factor of several genetic and non-genetic causes of ASDs that were once considered unrelated. This comprehensive resource opens new vistas for the development of new therapies based on the targeted manipulation of trace metal homeostasis that will generate new awareness surrounding trace metal levels during pregnancy. - Reviews the role of trace metals in brain development - Summarizes research linking trace metals and autism - Explores heterogenous phenotypes as a factor of genetic and non-genetic factors - Includes animal and human stem research - Contains many useful diagrams, tables and flow charts - Proposes future therapies based on biometal homeostasis

Dr. Grabrucker received his MSc in Biology with a focus on genetics in 2005 from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany. After obtaining his PhD in Molecular Medicine from Ulm University, Germany, he continued his research in Stanford University's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. In 2011, he returned to University of Ulm as Assistant Professor and served as Executive Director of the Neurocenter of Ulm University. He has been a tenured lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Limerick since 2017. He is a member of the Bernal Institute, and of the Health Research Institute of University of Limerick. Dr Grabrucker's lab was the first to establish a prenatal zinc deficiency model for autism spectrum disorder and characterize the molecular and behavioral phenotype. This work continues in his lab and since his PhD in 2009, he has published 1 book (in press), 8 book chapters and over 47 articles in peer reviewed journals, among them Nature, Brain, EMBO J, Am J Hum Genet, and Trends in Cell Biology, with over 2000 citations.