Learn how Folate Receptor Alpha autoantibodies present in various disease states, along with how to test and treat them.


Both autism and schizophrenia are chronic and hard to treat diseases.  There are only two antipsychotics that have FDA approval for use in autism.  These drugs only treat aggression, not an underlying cause of autism.  In schizophrenia, the drugs don’t always work, and due to side effects people don’t always take them.  It’s clear that biomarkers and treatments for both diseases are needed.

Folate Receptor Alpha autoantibodies are implicated in several disease states including cerebral folate deficiency, autism (and specifically thyroid dysfunction in autism), miscarriage, and schizophenia.  In this presentation, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, Gail Dawson will discuss how Folate Receptor Alpha autoantibodies can be tested for, and how to treat if they are present.  Gail will also review the evidence for Transglutaminase antibody 6 (to Gluten) and how it can attack the brain in people with schizophrenia.

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Gail Dawson, RN, PMHNP, NP-C, MSc, AANP

Gail Dawson is a clinician and educator driven by the passion to understand how the body and mind can function as originally intended. She is deeply dissatisfied with the psychiatric status quo, which drives her to seek out cutting edge research and therapies to help her patients achieve wellness. She is particularly focused on helping people taper off psychiatric medications, particularly benzodiazepines. She is a member of the co-chair of the Benzodiazepine Action Work Group, which is part of the Colorado Coalition for Prescription Drug Abuse, and frequently presents to other healthcare professionals on a variety of topics. Gail graduated from the University of Wyoming in 2010 as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, and in 2017 she graduated from the University of Northern Colorado as a family nurse practitioner.