AUTISM & DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES RESEARCH
$1,033,272 awarded to research since 1985
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) describes a continuum of conditions affecting a person’s behavior and ability to communicate. Some of these may be severe, inhibiting an individual’s ability to speak or perform simple tasks; other, “high-functioning” forms of autism, may be so minor as to escape notice. Most people living with autism can, with treatment, have rich and fulfilling lives; there is a growing consensus that most forms of ASD are not disabilities at all. The Foundation supports research into developmental conditions like ASD and Down Syndrome not to “cure” them, but to find treatments that help manage the most disabling symptoms.
Active Research
Cerebrospinal Fluid Dynamics in Infants Later Diagnosed with ASD: Implications for Early Diagnosis and Treatment Development | Dr. Roza Vlasova | $51,690
Cerebrospinal Fluid Dynamics in Infants Later Diagnosed with ASD: Implications for Early Diagnosis and Treatment Development 2025 Award: $51,690 Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a clear fluid that circulates through the nervous system, playing a [...]
Expediting access to autism specific intervention for young autistic children living in rural North Carolina: a pilot study | Dr. Kelly Caravella | $53,800
Expediting access to autism specific intervention for young autistic children living in rural North Carolina: a pilot study 2025 Award: $53,800 Long delays to diagnosis and treatment are unfortunately common for many families with [...]
Predicting ASD comorbid Anxiety in Early Childhood | Dr. Yoonmi Hong | $59,102
Predicting ASD comorbid Anxiety in Early Childhood via Multi-modality MRI 2025 Award: $59,102 Can the structure of a child's brain predict their risk for developing anxiety? Our groundbreaking study harnesses the power of deep [...]
Establishing the Validity of a Wearable Technology of Objective Arousal Measurements Across Development | Grzadzinski | $40,000
Establishing the Validity of a Wearable Technology of Objective Arousal Measurements Across Development 2023 Award: $40,000 Atypical sensory reactivity is reported by parents in pre-symptomatic infants that go on to develop ASD. We propose [...]
Data Driven Brain Shape Analysis Framework and Explainable AI | Prieto | $66,691
Data Driven Brain Shape Analysis Framework and Explainable AI 2022 Award: $66,691 Specific shape aspects are associated with individual differences in cognitive function in children and adults as well as abnormality in many neuropsychiatric [...]
Circuit-level investigation of global hypoconnectivity in the sensory neocortex of a mouse model for autism | Kato | $40,092
Circuit-level investigation of global hypoconnectivity in the sensory neocortex of a mouse model for autism 2022 Award: $40,092 In addition to the well-known social communication difficulties, autistic patients frequently suffer from sensory processing problems, such [...]
A Stimulus PET/MR Study of Gender Differences in Neuroinflammation in Autism | Dichter | $50,000
A Stimulus PET/MR Study of Gender Differences in Neuroinflammation in Autism 2020 Award: $50,000 Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) impacts the functioning of brain regions that process social information, but the reasons for this are [...]
Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms Governing Cortical Surface Area Overgrowth in iPSC-derived Neural Cells from Longitudinally Characterized Autism Individuals | Hazlett | $49,720
Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms Governing Cortical Surface Area Overgrowth in iPSC-derived Neural Cells from Longitudinally Characterized Autism Individuals 2018 Award: $49,720 Many individuals with autism spectrum disorder exhibit larger brain volumes early in life. [...]