Abstract: Hundreds of high-confidence, large-effect risk genes have been recently discovered for neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders ranging from autism to schizophrenia. Even within one disorder, the genes identified span a vast range of cellular and developmental functions, many genes are likely pleiotropic, and many genes are of completely unknown function. Therefore, there exists a critical need for new models for investigating many genes in parallel to uncover disorder-specific biology. In this talk, I will discuss how I have developed Xenopus tropicalis, diploid frogs, as a high-throughput, powerful platform for genetic analysis of many genes in parallel in the vertebrate brain and our progress in identifying convergent mechanisms of risk and resilience in autism.