The laboratory, led by Dr. Evan Elliott, focuses on trying to understand the changing molecular mechanisms in the brains of people diagnosed with autism and the responsibility of these mechanisms for autistic behavior.
At the Faculty of Medicine in Galilee, a molecular and behavioral neurobiology laboratory was established, headed by Dr. Evan Elliott.
The research in Dr. Elliott's laboratory focuses on trying to understand the molecular mechanisms that change in the brains of people who have been diagnosed with autism and the responsibility of these mechanisms for autistic behavior.
Today there is not enough knowledge about the changes that occur in the brain of a person with autism, and what are the effective treatment methods.
The research in Dr. Elliott's laboratory has two main goals and they are:
1. To characterize the molecular differences between the brains of those with autism and the brains of those without it, in order to try and understand autism in its various types and the appropriate pharmacological and behavioral treatment methods. Already at the beginning of the study, the first signs of inflammation and increased activity (activation) in the immune system were found in the brains of people with autism. In addition, from the laboratory studies there are conclusions, which so far are almost undocumented in the literature and in autism research in the world, which indicate that the system of proteins that flow in the blood and are part of the immune system, is much larger in the brains of those with autism.
2. Building a database of records and unique information of people diagnosed as autistic and their family members in Israel. The database uniquely combines three types of information: a. Clinical information about the patient and the diagnosis of autism. B. Information about the patient's and his family's medical history, including information about the course of the patient's mother's pregnancy, and about hospitalizations and illnesses during pregnancy. third. Biological samples of the patient for scans of the immune system.
A database of this type makes it possible to make a correlation between all the data and create a broad picture of the causes of autism and the biological changes that occur in the brain. The database also enables the question of whether there is a connection between the patient's medical history and the biological changes that cause autism. This combination of the three types of information, carried out in Dr. Elliott's laboratory and the attempt to map them all, is unique and first in the world. The database will help in the early diagnosis of autism and the development of a more targeted treatment for it.
The research in the laboratory is done in collaboration with researchers and senior doctors in Israel and abroad, with the pharmaceutical company "Teva" and in collaboration with the Ziv Medical Center in Safed. The research in Dr. Elliott's laboratory focuses on people diagnosed with autism in Israel and this from the concept that the population in Israel is unique, due to the ethnic and religious diversity and the different lifestyles.
Dr. Elliott was born in San Jose, California. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of California in San Diego and in 2001 immigrated to Israel out of a sense of Zionism and a desire to settle the land. Dr. Elliot completed his master's degree, doctorate and postdoctoral studies at the Weizmann Institute on the subject: molecular neurobiology of Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Elliott's post-doctorate dealt with the reactions and behavior of the body in situations of stress and anxiety. In 2011, Dr. Elliot moved to teach and research at the Faculty of Medicine in the Galilee of Bar Ilan University, and was one of the founders of the faculty. Dr. Elliott, together with Prof. Bella Gross - director of the neurology department at the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, head of the field of neurology at the Faculty of Medicine in Galilee and a world expert in the field of neurology, coordinate the "Mind and Soul" course for medical students studying at the faculty.
