The Drexel University School of Public Health received a $2.5M grant from Autism Speaks to support the Early Autism Risk Longitudinal Investigation (EARLI) network. The award is part of a $5M grant from Autism Speaks to investigate genetic and environmental risk factors for autism via a collaboration between two of the nation’s National Institutes of Health (NIH) supported Autism Centers of Excellence projects. The grant to the Drexel University School of Public Health comes on the heels of the school receiving more than $14M in funding from the NIH to establish the EARLI network.
The grant, made possible through an anonymous donation to Autism Speaks, represents one of the largest public-private partnerships focused on understanding the causes of autism to date. The Autism Speaks funding will support at least five years of this collaboration. Dr. Craig J. Newschaffer, a renowned autism expert and department chair at the Drexel University School of Public Health, will lead the EARLI network and serve as the principal investigator of the Autism Speaks grant to Drexel University.
The EARLI network (www.earlistudy.org) involves leading autism researchers from the Drexel University School of Public Health, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, California and University of California Davis. EARLI will explore possible risk factors and biological indicators for ASD during the prenatal, neonatal and early postnatal periods. The project will enroll and follow up to 1200 mothers of children with autism at the start of a new pregnancy and document the development of their newborn siblings through age three. This groundbreaking study will provide a unique opportunity for studying possible autism environmental risk factors and biomarkers during different developmental windows as well as an opportunity to investigate the interplay of genetic susceptibility and environmental exposure. EARLI will begin enrolling subjects in the spring of 2009.
In the second project , researcher Joseph Piven, M.D.,of the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, leads a multi-site effort, Infant Brain Imaging Study (IBIS) (www.ibis-network.org), to identify brain differences in children who develop ASD using brain imaging techniques to monitor and analyze the brain development of 544 very young infant siblings of children with autism. Some of these infants may go on to develop ASD. Their brain images will be compared to those of other “typical” infants, to identify differences between children who develop autism and those who do not. This study involves examination and correlation of the brain and behavioral changes in very early life that may mark the onset of autistic symptoms. Little is known about the abnormal processes during early brain development in children with ASD and this research could offer new insights that lead to earlier diagnosis of ASD.
"These comprehensive studies will help us better understand the onset of ASD and hopefully capture the earliest possible indicators of autism. Both of these studies will also significantly add to our knowledge about the causes of autism by looking at the interaction between genetic susceptibility and environmental exposures. It is our hope that this collaborative effort will facilitate early screening and hopefully lead to effective prevention and treatment strategies," noted Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer at Autism Speaks. "Autism Speaks, through the funding it provides, seeks to enhance the capacity of some established core research efforts by allowing DNA and additional exposure data to be collected, supporting longitudinal research over time, and facilitating collaboration among separate research institutions to maximize the scientific opportunities available and the impact of their findings."
For more information on the Autism Speaks grant, read the full press release from Autism Speaks. For additional information on the EARLI network, please visit http://www.earlistudy.org.