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Publications

Date Revised: August 2025

Thank you to all the families for participating in Simons Searchlight. Through your involvement, we aim to assist researchers and geneticists worldwide in understanding genetic disorders affecting you or your family.

The research conducted using Simons Searchlight data has resulted in numerous published papers. These papers undergo a peer-review process, where other scientists assess and validate the research before publication in scientific journals. Additionally, some findings are shared via preprints, allowing rapid dissemination of information to the scientific community.

Many of the publications feature the name “Simons Variation in Individuals Project” (SimonsVIP), which was the original name of our research program, now known as Simons Searchlight.

The listed articles are organized from newest to oldest. You can explore publications by specific genetic conditions using the categories below.

As of August 2025, Simons Searchlight has contributed to 125 publications and preprints, and we will continue to summarize new publications.

For accessibility, the Simons Foundation encourages researchers to make their publications open access. If you cannot access a journal article, we recommend reaching out to the last author listed on the paper to request a copy.

Understanding Publication Reference Titles:

-The article title is followed by publication details, including where and when it was published.
– If there are more than three authors, we use “et al.” to represent additional contributors.
– Journals are referenced using shorthand names.

Disclaimer: Please be aware that papers posted on medRxiv (pronounced med-archive) or bioRxiv (pronounced bio-archive) are not peer-reviewed or edited before online publication. In contrast, all other articles listed here have undergone review by fellow researchers to ensure quality and accuracy. While posting on medRxiv or bioRxiv allows researchers to share findings quickly, the final published results may differ after undergoing formal peer review for journal publication.

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Genetic Condition
Year of Publication
125 Publications
Characterizing sleep problems in 16p11.2 deletion and duplication
  • Sleep disturbances are common amongst people with a neurodevelopmental condition, although sleep issues for people with 16p11.2 deletions or duplications have not been studied.Show More
  • The researchers studied the sleep patterns of 345 youth and 347 adults registered in Simons Searchlight. This included 136 people with a 16p11.2 deletion, 112 people with a 16p11.2 duplication, and 444 people with no genetic condition.
  • The most common sleep issues for a child with a 16p11.2 deletion were waking up screaming and getting out of bed. Children with a 16p11.2 duplication also had issues getting out of bed and difficulty falling asleep. Children with a deletion or duplication had higher sleep disturbance issues than participants without the genetic condition.
  • Adults with a deletion or duplication had issues falling asleep or staying asleep. The researchers found no difference in sleep disturbance between males and females.
  • The researchers also found that participants living with a person with a 16p11.2 deletion or duplication had more disturbed sleep than participants with no genetic condition. The researchers suggested that family members might have more disturbed sleep due to their loved ones having sleep issues.Show Less
J Autism Dev Disord Epub ahead of print, (2021)
Kamara et al.
Full Article

16p11.2 deletion
16p11.2 duplication
2021

Cortical organoids model early brain development disrupted by 16p11.2 copy number variants in autism
  • These researchers made mini-brains to study the cell processes that are affected by a 16p11.2 deletion or duplication.Show More
  • The researchers used induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to make the mini-brains. iPSCs are a special type of cells that can be turned into other body cells, making it easier to study parts of the body that are difficult to study, such as brain cells. The iPSCs were from Simons Searchlight participants with a 16p11.2 deletion or duplication.
  • The researchers found that 16p11.2 deletion mini-brains were larger, and that 16p11.2 duplication mini-brains were smaller. This is similar to what has been found in humans.
  • The researchers studied the genetic expression and protein profile in these mini-brains. They were able to see minor differences when the brains were ‘younger’ or earlier in development.
  • They found more brain changes when the brains were ‘older’ or later in development. These findings suggest that issues in brain development would be affected more later in human development or later in pregnancy.
  • Early in development, these brains had issues with cell migration. In the uterus, the developing fetus needs brain cells to migrate from the areas where they are born to the areas where they will settle for correct brain connections. This migration happens as early as the second month of pregnancy.
  • The researchers found that genes involved in brain cell functions and brain cell communication were affected in the 16p11.2 mini-brains. Similar results were found in mini-brains made from people with autism, as well as another Simons Searchlight genetic condition affecting the CHD8 gene.
  • This research was supported by a grant from the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI).Show Less
Mol Psychiatry 26, 7560-7580 (2021)
Urresti et al.
Full Article

16p11.2 deletion
16p11.2 duplication
2021

16pdel lipid changes in iPSC-derived neurons and function of FAM57B in lipid metabolism and synaptogenesis
  • These researchers studied the role of the FAM57B gene in brain development. FAM57B stands for family with sequence similarity 57, member B, and it is located in the 16p11.2 region in humans. There are about 29 genes in the 16p11.2 region. When someone has a 16p11.2 deletion, one copy of this gene is missing.Show More
  • The researchers used induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from Simons Searchlight participants with a 16p11.2 deletion. The researchers turned these iPSCs into different types of brain cells.
  • The researchers studied fats in the brain because FAM57B is thought to be important for making certain microscopic fats in the brain. Human brains are made up of mostly different kinds of fats.
  • In the lab-made 16p11.2 deletion brain cells, there were abnormal levels of many fats, and the researchers suggested that this was because there was less FAM57B in these cells.
  • The researchers used CRISPR/Cas9 to remove the FAM57B gene from a set of cells that did not have the 16p11.2 deletion. This allowed the researchers to see what happens to the level of fats when only the FAM57B gene was removed. The researchers found abnormal levels of fats in the CRISPR/Cas9 cells, similar to what they saw in the 16p11.2 deletion cells from participants. The researchers also did studies using fish models and found similar results.
  • The researchers suggested that the features they found in the lab-made brain cells that had only the FAM57B gene removed do not explain the full 16p11.2 deletion condition, and that there are other genes in the 16p11.2 region that are important for brain function.Show Less
iScience 25, 103551 (2021)
Tomasello et al.
Full Article

16p11.2 deletion
2021

Psychotic symptoms in 16p11.2 copy-number variant carriers
  • Previous research suggests that people with a 16p11.2 deletion or duplication are more likely to be diagnosed with autism or psychiatric conditions like schizophrenia. Importantly, people with a 16p11.2 duplication have schizophrenia symptoms at a higher rate than people with 16p11.2 deletions.Show More
  • Youth and adult Simons Searchlight participants were evaluated using in-person assessments and surveys. The study included 109 people with a 16p11.2 duplication, 131 people with a 16p11.2 deletion, and 306 people without a genetic condition.
  • The researchers found that participants with a 16p11.2 duplication were more likely to have symptoms of psychosis, and that participants with a 16p11.2 deletion were not at an increased risk, compared with the general population. The link between a 16p11.2 duplication and psychosis symptoms was described as being associated and not causative.
  • They also found that participants with a 16p11.2 deletion or duplication were more likely to be diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder.
  • This research was supported by a grant from the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI).Show Less
Autism Res 13, 187-198 (2020)
Jutla et al.
Full Article

16p11.2 deletion
16p11.2 duplication
2020

Vascular contributions to 16p11.2 deletion autism syndrome modeled in mice
  • Most research on brain cell development in people with a 16p11.2 deletion has studied how the cells grow and develop, but has not looked at how the supporting blood vessels are affected and contribute to brain features. Show More
  • The researchers studied 16p11.2 deletion mice to understand how the blood vessels develop in their brains. To make the learnings comparable to humans, they also used induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from people in Simons Searchlight with a 16p11.2 deletion. iPSCs are a special type of cells that can be turned into other body cells, making it easier to study parts of the body that are difficult to get samples of, such as brain cells.
  • The researchers found that the inner lining of blood vessels, called the endothelial layer, was abnormal in mice with a 16p11.2 deletion. They also found that genes in the 16p11.2 region help to regulate blood vessel development, but when deleted, they are not present to promote effective blood supply to regions of the brain.
  • They also showed that male mice with a 16p11.2 deletion had behavioral issues, such as irregular sleep-wake cycle, but both male and female mice had abnormal blood vessel development.
  • The researchers suggested that what they saw in the 16p11.2 deletion mice was similar to what they saw in the 16p11.2 deletion human brain cells, but that they need to do more work to confirm this finding.Show Less
Nat Neurosci 23, 1090-1101 (2020)
Ouellette et al.
Full Article

16p11.2 deletion
2020

Evaluating heterogeneity in ASD symptomatology, cognitive ability, and adaptive functioning among 16p11.2 CNV carriers
  • To study what environmental factors could lead to the differences in people with a 16p11.2 deletion or duplication, researchers studied Simons Searchlight participants. They looked at prenatal and postnatal factors that could affect people’s medical symptoms. For example, some people with a 16p11.2 deletion receive a diagnosis of autism while others do not. Show More
  • The researchers found that in participants with a 16p11.2 deletion, there was an increased number of perinatal factors, and genetic changes outside of the 16p11.2 region are linked to a person having autism or social defects. Examples of perinatal factors: being breech, low birth weight, low apgar score, and respiratory distress.
  • In participants with a 16p11.2 duplication, the researchers found that an increased number of genetic changes outside of the 16p11.2 region and being male were linked to an increased chance of having autism.
  • The researchers also studied the effects of environmental factors on verbal IQ or non-verbal IQ, repetitive behaviors, and the ability to adapt to different situations. Being female lowered the autism symptomatology in participants with a deletion or duplication, but did not have a large effect on IQ.
  • The researchers suggested that more work needs to be done to understand other environmental factors.Show Less
Autism Res 13, 1300-1310 (2020)
Hudac et al.
Full Article

16p11.2 deletion
16p11.2 duplication
2020

Language characterization in 16p11.2 deletion and duplication syndromes
  • To understand the pattern of spoken language and understanding language in people with a 16p11.2 deletion or duplication, researchers performed in-person tests on Simons Searchlight participants. There were 110 people with a deletion and 58 people with a duplication included in this study. Participants were between ages 2 and 23 years old.Show More
  • Cognitive delays have been linked to having a lower ability to communicate in both deletion and duplication carriers. In this study, there was little effect of having an autism diagnosis on language ability. This suggests that the language issues in verbal people are linked to the 16p11.2 deletion or duplication in the presence or absence of autism.
  • Language issues in participants with a 16p11.2 deletion were more severe than in participants with a duplication. This included understanding the relationship between words, word meanings, and word context.
  • The researchers suggested that some language issues, such as commenting on one’s own experiences, or reporting main ideas from a story, may not be identified in a doctor’s clinic because if a person does not get an autism diagnosis, they may not be assessed for these different language differences.
  • This research was supported by a grant from the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI). Show Less
Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet 183, 380-391 (2020)
Kim et al.
Full Article

16p11.2 deletion
16p11.2 duplication
2020