Brexit worries about Autism collaboration, funding

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Dermot Bowler, director of the Autism Research Group at City University of London, says many researchers on his team are not British nationals. Foreign members of his team, Bowler says, will have to stay on top of visas and work permits to keep working in his department — something they have never had to bother with before.

“They may choose to move somewhere without this requirement,” Bowler says. “Coupled with difficulties in recruiting new staff, this could affect our work.”

The Brexit referendum also may reflect a broader public sentiment against foreigners, which threatens to fragment international collaborations. Simon Baron-Cohen, director of the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge University, is a member of a European consortium designed to provide a framework for drug discovery and clinical trials in autism.

Baron-Cohen’s team is part of a project to scan the brains of 500 people with autism and 300 typical individuals to better understand the roots of the condition and speed up the development of treatments. He says he worries that any change of status for the European scientists on his team in Cambridge may make those people feel insecure and unwelcome — and perhaps less likely to remain in their jobs.