2021-22 BTC Calendar: George Vidal

The $1 million that George Vidal received from the National Institutes of Health was the largest research grant the U.S. agency has ever given to a single scientist at JMU. Yet the assistant biology professor immediately gave credit to his faculty mentors and undergraduate researchers: “Their dedicated work is how we discovered that integrin beta 3 is a worthwhile autism risk gene to study. I have been privileged to work with my students to discover knowledge that can be used to combat neurodevelopmental disorders.” The neuroscientist explains: “Integrin beta 3 is an autism risk gene that is associated with intellectual disability, but it has a completely unknown function in the cerebral cortex. If we discover where, when and how it works in the cerebral cortex, we will also know where, when and how to treat its dysfunction.” The Harvard and Stanford alumnus is studying the gene’s effects on the neurons and circuits that underpin behaviors that are impaired in autism, such as social functioning.