FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 13, 2003
#03-01

NIEHS CONTACT:
Bill Grigg
(301) 402-3378

13 May 2003: NIH Awards Grants for Six New Autism Research Centers

The National Institute of Mental Health (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (http://www.niehs.nih.gov) have joined with other parts of the National Institutes of Health (http://www.nih.gov) to support six new autism research centers.

These centers will join two that were funded last year. The overall initiative, called STAART (Studies to Advance Autism Research and Treatment) Centers Program, demonstrates NIH commitment to autism research and responds to a need expressed in the Children's Health Act of 2000.

NIH expects to spend $65 million over five years for the eight centers. STAART is funded by the NIH Autism Coordinating Committee (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/autismiacc/index.cfm) , which coordinates autism research conducted by its five member Institutes: the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, as well as NIEHS and NIMH.

Each STAART center will contribute to understanding the underlying brain abnormalities, causes, diagnosis, early detection, prevention, and treatment of autism. All of these areas are crucial to learning more about autism, a brain disorder that affects social, communicative and behavioral functioning from an early age.

Thomas Insel, M.D., NIMH Director and chair of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee said, "This major network of centers will accelerate advances in our knowledge about autism causes and treatments and help us achieve our mission of reducing the burden associated with autism spectrum disorders."

The six new centers, their directors, and this year's grant amounts are: University of Washington, Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D., $1.6 million; University of California, Los Angeles, Marian Sigman, Ph.D., $1.4 million; Boston University, Helen Tager-Flusberg, Ph.D., $1.7 million; University of Rochester, Patricia Rodier, Ph.D., $1.5 million;Kennedy Krieger Institute, Rebecca Landa, Ph.D., $1.5 million; and Mt. Sinai Medical School, Eric Hollander, M.D., $1.6 million.

They join the two STAART centers funded last year at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, directed by Joseph Piven, M.D., and at Yale University, directed by Fred Volkmar, M.D.

Plans for collaborative projects include multisite clinical trials within the STAART network, as well as interaction with the Collaborative Programs of Excellence in Autism, ten major research programs funded by the NICHD/NIDCD Network on the Neurobiology and Genetics of Autism. A data coordination center will be responsible for both CPEA and STAART networks. Previous funding for the STAART Centers program included one-year developmental grants funded at six universities and research institutes to help research teams prepare applications for future centers.

NIH is the United States government's primary agency for medical and behavioral research, and is part of the Department of Health and Human Services.