Paul Ashwood, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine

UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute
2825 50th Street
Sacramento, CA 95817
E-mail: pashwood@ucdavis.edu

Dr. Ashwood, an immunologist, is a recent recruit to the M.I.N.D. Institute. Much of his current work is directed at characterizing the role of the immune system in autism.  Recognizing the highly complex and interconnected nature of the immune and central nervous systems, Ashwood is interested in exploring whether the health of one system is integral to the healthy development of the other. His initial efforts at the M.I.N.D. Institute will be to fully characterize the immune response in children with autism. Ashwood’s original research in his native England involved identification of a new variant of inflammatory bowel disease found in some cases of autism. 

B.Sc. University College London, London, U.K., 1992
M.Sc. Imperial College London, London, U.K., 1993
Ph.D. King’s College London, London, U.K., 1999

Ashwood P, Harvey R, Verjee T, Wolstencroft R, Thompson RPH, Powell JJ. Competition between IL-1, IL-1ra and TGF modulates the response of the ELA4.NOB-1/CTLL bioassay Implications for clinical investigations. Inflammation Research 53(2): 60-65, 2004.

Machado M, Ashwood P, Thomson MA, Sim R, Walker-Smith JA, Murch SH. Spontaneous TH1 cytokine production by intestinal but not circulating T cells in infants and young children with and without food allergies. Allergy 59:346-35312, 2004. 

Ashwood P, Harvey R, Verjee T, Wolstencroft R, Thompson RPH, Powell JJ. Functional Interactions between mucosal IL-1, IL-1ra and TGF in Ulcerative Colitis. Inflammation Research 53(2):53-59, 2004.

Torrente F, Anthony A, Heuschkel RB, Thomson MA, Ashwood P, Murch SH. Focal enhanced gastritis in regressive autism with features distinct from Crohn’s disease and Helicobacter pylori gastritis. American Journal of Gastroenterology 99(4);598-605, 2004.

Ashwood P, Van de Water JA. A review of autism and the immune response. Clin Develop Immunology 11(2);165-174, 2004.

Thomson M, Afzal N, Ashwood P, Hall S, Frutscher-Ravens A, Swain CP. Endoluminal Gastroplication in children with significant gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. Gut 53(12):1745-1750, 2004.

Ashwood P, Anthony A, Torrente F, Wakefield AJ. Spontaneous mucosal lymphocyte cytokine profiles in children with regressive autism and gastrointestinal symptoms: mucosal immune activation and reduced counter regulation. J Clin Immunol 24(6):664-673, 2004.

Ashwood P, Van de Water J. Is Autism an autoimmune disease? Autoimmunity Reviews 3(7-8):557-562, 2004.

Puleston J, Cooper M, Murch S, Makh S, Ashwood P, Bingham A, Green H, Moss P, Dhillon A, Gelinas A, Pounder R, Platt A. A distinct subset of chemokines, induced in colonic epithelium by IL-1, dominates the mucosal chemokine response in ulcerative colitis. Alimentary Pharmacol Therapeutics 21(2):109-120, 2005.

Investigator: NIEHS 1 P01 ES11269-01; EPA Log number HQ-R-000, Title:  Environmental Factors in the Etiology of Autism, 9/30/01- 9/29/06, $7,325,228 ($5,000,000 in direct costs).  This is a program center project, the aim of which is the determination of environmental factors contributing to the development of autism. 

Co-Principal Investigator: ‘Immune dysregulation in autism’, Visceral (UK Charity) and Ted Lindsey Trust, 6/03 to 6/05, $150,000 Aim: To determine the stimulated and resting immune responses in children with autism.

Co-Principal Investigator: ‘Mucosal Immunity and autism’, Visceral, 11/01 to 5/03, $108,000
This was a continuation grant to elucidate intestinal immune activation in children with autism and GI symptoms Postdoctoral Fellowship, ‘Mucosal immune abnormalities in autism’, Scott of Yews Trust 11/99 to 10/01, $150,000. The principal aim is to determine the nature of the intestinal inflammation seen in a subset of children with autism and GI symptoms.