Sabina was interested in the role of CHD8 in autism.  CHD8 is a chromatin remodeler that is the most frequently mutated gene in autism.  Her studies with Chris Weber revealed that CHD8 negatively regulates expression of neuronal genes to maintain pluripotency and also during differentiation. Thus, CHD8 is essential for both the maintenance of pluripotency and neural differentiation, providing mechanistic insight into its function with potential implications for ASD.