International Coalition To Fund Autism Research

The National Institutes of Health is spear-heading an international coalition of public and private health agencies and advocacy organizations in a $21 million research project to identify the genes associated with autism spectrum disorders. The coalition will be led by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

According to NIMH Director Thomas R. Insel, M.D., “This remarkable partnership shows what can be accomplished when public/private efforts join forces. This international approach can advance the autism field by leaps and bounds.”

In addition to NIMH, other organizations participating in the project are the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, all part of the National Institutes of Health; the Canadian Institutes of Health Research; and the Health Research Board, Ireland. Among the private organizations involved are the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center, Cure Autism Now, and the National Alliance for Autism Research.

The coalition recently issued a Request for Applications (RFA),“ Identifying Autism Susceptibility Genes,” with an application receipt date of April 15. It expects to be able to fund two or three organizations by the fall to participate in the five-year project.

The RFA can be accessed at<http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-MH-05-007.html>.▪