Greg Gerkens holds a master's degree in literacy education from Long Island University. Originally a special education teacher, Greg Gerkens has since held administrative posts, serving as assistant high school principal at Eastern Suffolk BOCES in Centereach, New York, between 2013 and 2016. His concern for children with special needs extends outside of work, leading him to actively support Autism Speaks.
A non-profit organization committed to promoting solutions that cater to the needs of individuals with autism, Autism Speaks runs a robust research program that includes its MSSNG effort.
Regarded as the largest open-access database on autism, MSSNG is a groundbreaking project that involves sequencing the genomes of more than 10,000 families affected by autism. These sequences are uploaded and released via Google Cloud to pre-approved investigators from 40 leading research institutions in nine countries for analysis.
Although humanity has made great strides in the past couple of decades, there is still a universe of information about autism that remains unknown. To learn how you can support MSSNG, visit AutismSpeaks.org.
