Paul Ashwood

Paul Ashwood
Born
United Kingdom[2]
Alma materUniversity College London, Imperial College London, King's College London[2]
AwardsSuzanne and Bob Wright Trailblazer Award[1]
Scientific career
FieldsGastroenterology, child psychiatry, neuroimmunology
InstitutionsMIND Institute
ThesisMicroparticles and the intestine (2001)

Paul Ashwood is an associate professor of immunology at the MIND Institute at the University of California Davis.[1] His lab conducts research regarding the potential role of immune system disorders in autism, as well as other neurodevelopmental disorders such as Fragile X syndrome, Tourette syndrome, schizophrenia and mood disorders.[3]

Ashwood originally conducted research on the gastrointestinal pathology observed in some autistic children.[2][4] According to a press release from the MIND Institute, his research has concluded that differences exist in immune responses between autistic and neurotypical children. With regard to one such study, presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research in 2005, Ashwood said, "We would like to take these findings and explore whether, for example, the cytokine differences are specific to certain subsets of patients with autism, such as those with early onset, or those who exhibit signs of autism later during development",[5] and that "We known these autistic children differ from the normal - what we have to find now is whether they also differ from children with other developmental disabilities."[6]

Ashwood co-authored chapter 10 of a textbook on immune system disorders; in this chapter he states, based on a number of peer-reviewed papers, that "these findings point to a pivotal role for immune-dysregulation in the pathogenesis of ASD".[7] Another of his studies, presented at the International Congress on Autoimmunity, also in 2005, came to a similar conclusion. However, Ashwood noted that "a lot of these reports are conflicting, and there is no consensus so far".[8] Ashwood's lab has also published a number of studies concluding that maternal antibodies are a risk factor for autism.[9][10][11][12] Another of Ashwood's studies, published in 2011,[13] was, along with two other MIND Institute studies, named among the top 10 autism research achievements of that year by Autism Speaks,[14] and yet another study provided evidence that levels of cellular adhesion molecules in the blood are lower in patients with autism than in controls.[15]

According to Brian Deer, Ashwood was formerly one of Andrew Wakefield's colleagues at Royal Free Hospital, and received over £8,000 as a result of his serving as a paid witness in MMR vaccine litigation.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b Name droppers: UCD’s Paul Ashwood receives Trailblazer Award Davis Enterprise
  2. ^ a b c "Paul Ashwood". MIND Institute. Retrieved 5 November 2013. Dr. Ashwood's original research in his native England was the first to characterize gastrointestinal pathology observed in some cases of children with autism.
  3. ^ "Paul Ashwood, Ph.D." UC Davis Website. Archived from the original on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  4. ^ Abha Chauhan; Ved Chauhan; Ted Brown (8 June 2010). Autism: Oxidative Stress, Inflammation, and Immune Abnormalities. Taylor & Francis. pp. 277–?. ISBN 978-1-4200-6887-0.
  5. ^ "Children with autism have distinctly different immune system reactions compared to typical children". Eurekalert! (Press release). 5 May 2005. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  6. ^ Sample, Ian (6 May 2005). "Move towards autism test at birth raises fears". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  7. ^ Dietert, Rodney; Luebke, Robert (2012). Immunotoxicity, Immune Dysfunction, and Chronic Disease. Springer Science+Business Media. p. 253.
  8. ^ Wachter, Kerri (1 February 2005). "Immune Dysregulation Linked To Autism Spectrum Disorders". Clinical Psychiatry News. Archived from the original on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  9. ^ Braunschweig, D.; Ashwood, P.; Krakowiak, P.; Hertzpicciotto, I.; Hansen, R.; Croen, L.; Pessah, I.; Vandewater, J. (2007). "Autism: Maternally derived antibodies specific for fetal brain proteins". NeuroToxicology. 29 (2): 226–31. doi:10.1016/j.neuro.2007.10.010. PMC 2305723. PMID 18078998.
  10. ^ Cabanlit, M.; Wills, S.; Goines, P.; Ashwood, P.; Van De Water, J. (2007). "Brain-Specific Autoantibodies in the Plasma of Subjects with Autistic Spectrum Disorder". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1107 (1): 92–103. Bibcode:2007NYASA1107...92C. doi:10.1196/annals.1381.010. PMID 17804536. S2CID 6137245.
  11. ^ Croen, L. A.; Braunschweig, D.; Haapanen, L.; Yoshida, C. K.; Fireman, B.; Grether, J. K.; Kharrazi, M.; Hansen, R. L.; Ashwood, P.; Van De Water, J. (2008). "Maternal Mid-Pregnancy Autoantibodies to Fetal Brain Protein: The Early Markers for Autism Study". Biological Psychiatry. 64 (7): 583–588. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.05.006. PMC 2574992. PMID 18571628.
  12. ^ Golden, Cory (10 July 2013). "Maternal antibodies linked to autism, UCD team finds". Davis Enterprise. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  13. ^ Ashwood, P.; Krakowiak, P.; Hertz-Picciotto, I.; Hansen, R.; Pessah, I.; Van De Water, J. (2011). "Elevated plasma cytokines in autism spectrum disorders provide evidence of immune dysfunction and are associated with impaired behavioral outcome". Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 25 (1): 40–45. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2010.08.003. PMC 2991432. PMID 20705131.
  14. ^ "MIND Institute recognized for Autism research". Sacramento Today. 27 December 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  15. ^ Onore, C. E.; Nordahl, C. W.; Young, G. S.; Van De Water, J. A.; Rogers, S. J.; Ashwood, P. (2012). "Levels of Soluble Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 and P-Selectin Are Decreased in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder". Biological Psychiatry. 72 (12): 1020–1025. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2012.05.004. PMC 3496806. PMID 22717029.
  16. ^ "Ask the experts: amazing Who's Who of lawyers' recruits for vaccine attack". Briandeer.com. Retrieved 4 October 2013.