AUTISM & DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES RESEARCH
$868,680 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
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 [...]
Biobehavioral Markers of Suicide Risk in Female Adolescents on the Autism Spectrum | Maddox | $39,992
Biobehavioral Markers of Suicide Risk in Female Adolescents on the Autism Spectrum 2021 Award: $39,992 Suicide is a leading cause of premature death for individuals on the autism spectrum. Females on the spectrum are [...]
A Pilot Study of Gender Differences in Neuroinflammation in Autism | Dichter | $50,000
A Pilot 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 unclear. [...]
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. [...]