Janine LaSalle is interested in the role epigenetics in human autism-spectrum disorders. Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in chromosomes that are not encoded in the DNA sequence, including DNA methylation and chromatin organization. The clinical applications of the research includes understanding the pathogenesis of the neurodevelopmental disorders autism, Rett syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, Dup15q, and Angelman syndrome. Her lab uses mouse models and samples from individuals with autism spectrum disorders to investigate the epigenetic mark of DNA methylation genome-wide using high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatic approaches.