An assistant professor from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, whose work focuses on the molecular mechanisms underlying amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), has been named the first recipient of the MDA Research Momentum Award, a new honor from the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) for early-career scientists.

Every parent wants their child to be happy, healthy, and thriving. But many whose children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder worry that it will make their lives more difficult.

A UNLV-led study has discovered a new molecular path that leads to autism, potentially opening the way for more intervention in the future.

Researchers at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, have made a significant breakthrough in autism research. The UNLV researchers uncovered a connection to a type of neuromuscular disease called myotonic dystrophy.

A recent discovery of a molecular connection between autism and myotonic dystrophy, a type of neuromuscular disease, may provide a breakthrough on how clinicians approach autism spectrum disorder. The new study by an interdisciplinary team of biomedical scientists, published on April 21 in Nature Neuroscience, used myotonic dystrophy as a tool or model to learn more about autism – effectively using one disorder to better understand the other.

Autism may be caused by a little-known genetic condition, experts say. They've found children with myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) are also 14 times more likely to develop autistic spectrum disorder.

Scientists from The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and the University of Las Vegas, Nevada (UNLV) have uncovered a genetic link between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and a rare genetic condition called myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1).