The Kilee Patchell-Evans Autism Research Group (KPEARG) was initially founded at the University of Western Ontario from a generous donation from Co-Founder David Patchell-Evans (Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa; President and CEO - GoodLife Fitness Clubs Inc. ). From the beginning, the overall mandate was to create an international multi-disciplinary research group whose combined efforts would focus on the development of novel research methods in the study of autism spectrum disorders.
We were intrigued by family stories of behavioral regression in children associated with digestive symptoms and food craving. By assembling a variety of researchers from different backgrounds worldwide, the KPEARG has a key interest in the biological processes linking dietary, microbial and gastrointestinal issues in autism . An emerging field in autism and indeed many other chronic diseases, is the role that alterations of the trillions of bacteria which inhabit the human digestive tract, termed the microb
A core focus of the Group is how metabolic products of the gut microbiome control brain function and behavior in autism, and also related neuropsychiatric conditions, such as obsessive compulsive, anxiety, movement, eating and learning disorders. We are particularly interested in the role of short fatty acid metabolites of gut bacteria and their role in autism and the development of novel clinical biomarkers and therapies to prevent, identify, screen and treat the disorder ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ).