Director’s Message: April 2026

Dear Friends,

Happy Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month!

At Autism BrainNet, we’ve been hard at work supporting important research. Thanks to the generosity of more than 400 families who have donated brain tissue, we’re now able to provide this invaluable resource to scientists across the United States and Europe. Because of these donations, researchers can now pursue studies that were previously not possible due to a lack of tissue.

Many families have asked: Who is using these donations, and what are they learning? In this newsletter, we’re excited to let the researchers share their work directly with you. In this issue, Dr. Tomasz Nowakowski, Ph.D., from the University of California, San Francisco, explains how donated tissue is helping his team better understand how the human brain develops—and how development may differ in autism. In future issues, we’ll continue to feature researchers and the work they’re doing with Autism BrainNet tissue.

We’re also working to raise awareness about the importance of brain donation in advancing autism research. Recently, we surveyed over 1,000 people to better understand public knowledge and perceptions. Here are a few key takeaways:

• Awareness is low: 70% of respondents had never heard of brain donation.
• But people recognize its importance: 92% agree that studying the brain is very important for advancing autism research.
• Why this matters: Postmortem brain tissue is essential for understanding autism and related conditions. It provides insights that cannot be replaced by technologies like AI, brain imaging, or virtual reality.

Some findings were especially surprising:

• Common misconceptions about eligibility: Nearly one-third of respondents mistakenly believed that conditions like autism, epilepsy, or concussion would prevent someone from donating. In fact, these are exactly the conditions researchers need to study.
• Confusion with organ donation: While nearly 80% of respondents are familiar with organ donation—and many are registered donors—only 15% know that brain donation is not included in standard organ donor registration. Most people (75%) are unsure.

Using these insights, we’ve created a press release and participated in media outreach to help correct misconceptions and increase awareness.

You can help, too. By spreading the word about brain donation, you’re supporting the research needed to better understand autism and develop future treatments for autism and related conditions.

Thank you for being part of this important effort.