David Ledbetter

Chief clinical officer
Dascena

David Ledbetter is chief clinical officer of Dascena, a personalized medicine company.

From this contributor

Spectrum

By David Ledbetter, Scott Myers

23 March 2021

5 min read

Brain made of DNA strands on a background of molecule shapes

There are no autism-specific genes, just brain genes

There is not yet a single example of a gene that, when mutated, increases the likelihood of autism but not of other neurodevelopmental conditions, including intellectual disability.

Spectrum

There are no autism-specific genes, just brain genes

By David Ledbetter, Scott Myers

23 March 2021 | 5 min read

Spectrum

By David Ledbetter

6 May 2013

3 min read

Developmental disorders should be viewed as continuum

Intellectual disability, autism, epilepsy and schizophrenia should be considered part of a spectrum of developmental brain dysfunction, says David Ledbetter.

Spectrum

Developmental disorders should be viewed as continuum

By David Ledbetter

6 May 2013 | 3 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

This paper changed my life

By Sidarta Ribeiro

14 July 2026

4 min read

Illustration of birdsong, bird brain, and DNA.

This paper changed my life: Embracing an early model for naturalistic neuroscience

A 1992 PNAS paper showed how birdsong upregulates the expression of an immediate early gene in bird forebrains. The work revealed to Ribeiro the importance of studying molecular responses in naturalistic contexts.

This paper changed my life