The Homer Hack is excited to announce the successful recipients of the 2024 competitive Research Round.  The Scientific Advisory Committee undertook a comprehensive process to select two outstanding researchers who will assist us in increasing our robust research program.

Dr Jose Agustin Cota Coronado is the Leader of the human stem cell biology laboratory at the Translational Molecular Psychiatry (TMP) Group at Monash University.  He will be conducting a project titled “Impact of in-utero exposure to infection on HOMER1 isoforms and the risk of autism”

This particular project will identify the functional consequences of cytokine exposure related to COVID- 19 infection in human neuronal cultures on distinct HOMER1 isoforms and neuronal and synaptic development. This will unveil whether HOMER1 is a central target after infection for biomarker or therapeutic development.  The benefit of this project is that it will generate world-first knowledge on the neurodevelopmental consequences of HOMER1 dysregulation, the impact of which stands to benefit not only SARS-CoV-2 exposed infants but the millions of infants globally exposed to a range of infections or insults that alter HOMER1 expression. These planned experiments may enable the identification of HOMER1 and/or other related signalling molecules as biomarkers of adverse neurodevelopment, an outcome that would have a profound impact by enabling targeted early intervention of children at risk of neurodevelopmental disorders such as ASD

The second grantee, Dr.Muhammad Shahid Javaid PhD from the Department of Neuroscience, School of Translational Medicine, Monash University, The Alfred Centre will be completing a project titled “Patient-Specific Disease Models for Investigating Homer1 Gene Mutations: Implications for Neurological and Cardiovascular Conditions”. 

The aim of this project is to gain a deeper understanding of and develop effective treatments for neurological and cardiovascular disorders linked to abnormal calcium signalling due to mutations in the Homer1 gene. To accurately reflect the pathophysiology of affected individuals, the project stresses the importance of using patient-specific neuronal disease models, with emphasis on astrocytes, another cell type of central nervous system, which is critical for synaptic plasticity and calcium signalling. Additionally, given that Homer1 has a potential role in modulating calcium signalling in the heart, it is crucial to investigate its impact on cardiac function and pathology. While Homer1 proteins are primarily known for their expression and function in the central nervous system, particularly in neurons and glial cells, research has indicated that certain members of the Homer family, including Homer1, may be expressed in cardiac tissue, although at lower levels compared to the central nervous system.  This particular project will complement the 2023 research project “drug screening using Homer1 patient’s iPSCs-derived neurons for clinical trials of precision medicine.”