Biometals in Autism Spectrum Disorders

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.

1. Introduction to Metallomics: The Science of Biometals2. Measuring Biometals3. The history of metals in autism spectrum disorders4. Essential trace metals and their function in brain development5. Non-essential metals and their brain pathology6. Biometals and nutrition in Autism Spectrum Disorders7. Linking trace metal abnormalities to Autism - insights from epidemiological studies8. The specific role of zinc in Autism Spectrum Disorder9. Animal models for trace metal abnormalities - links to Autism10. Animal models for Autism - links to biometals abnormalities11. Human stem cell models linking biometals abnormalities and Autism12. Extracerebral biometals in Autism Spectrum Disorders: the gut-brain axis13. Biometal homeostasis as therapeutic strategy in Autism Spectrum Disorders14. Future perspectives: Autism, a disorder of biometal imbalance?