OT/Fwd: USC granted $8.4 million for autism research

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USC granted $8.4 million for autism research

NIH grant will increase ethnic diversity of major database for autism

studies

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-10/uosc-ug100307.php

A multi-institution team led by USC faculty has received a five-year,

$8.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for an

ambitious effort to survey the genetic, physical and behavioral

profiles of children with autism.

The grant vastly will increase the reach and ethnic diversity of the

Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE), the world & rsquo;s largest

database for autism research, overseen by Clara Lajonchere, research

assistant professor at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering with a

joint appointment at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

Lajonchere, who serves as vice president of clinical programs for

Autism Speaks, said: & ldquo;This reaffirms the NIH & rsquo;s commitment

to supporting the AGRE resource, the largest repository of clinical

and genetic information for families with two or more kids with

autism. AGRE represents a paradigm shift towards large-scale

collaboration and data sharing in the research community. & rdquo;

The NIH grant will double the number of families in AGRE and expand

the data beyond genetic and clinical profiles to include what the

researchers call phenomics: the systematic study of the outward

physical and behavioral marks of autism.

The research will be organized under a new Center for Genomic and

Phenomic Studies in Autism. One goal of the new center, said

Lehner, chief of the NIH Genomics Research Branch, is to better

distinguish among the many forms of autism and to explore the

differences in their genetic profiles.

& ldquo;We are trying to establish a correspondence between gene and

phenotype, with the phenotype being autism and its many

manifestations, & rdquo; Lehner said. & ldquo;A unique feature of this

grant is the extensiveness of phenotyping. This is one of our largest

projects, if not the largest. & rdquo;

Autism is an umbrella term that includes several phenotypes, Lehner

said, some of which are poorly understood. A better picture of the

phenotypes of autism could provide a basis for future drug trials and

give clinicians better methods for measuring a patient & rsquo;s

response to treatment, he added.

AGRE & rsquo;s expansion will focus on recruiting an ethnically diverse

group of families, since Caucasians have been over-represented in

genetic studies to the point that diagnostic tools are unreliable for

minorities, Lajonchere said.

& ldquo;There are few focused genetic studies that directly examine

minority populations, & rdquo; she said. The center & rsquo;s expansion

will complement efforts by Lajonchere and colleagues at Autism Speaks

to foster similar studies in other countries.

Another unique aspect of the grant is a program of pilot studies to

evaluate potential environmental factors in autism such as air

pollution or disease and diet during pregnancy.

In one such study, Constantinos Sioutas, professor of civil and

environmental engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering,

will chart exposure to air pollution in more than 600 California

children with autism.

& ldquo;Part of this study is aimed at determining whether chemical

species in airborne ultrafine particles are associated with the

incidence of autism in children, & rdquo; Sioutas said.

Lajonchere credited Moldin, executive director of USC & rsquo;s

Washington, D.C. Office of Research Advancement and co-director of

the new center, for helping & ldquo;to create a presence for autism

and autism research at USC. & rdquo;

Earlier this year, Moldin organized a three-day meeting at USC of the

country & rsquo;s leading autism researchers to discuss the shared

neurobiological roots of autism and other developmental disorders.

& ldquo;Autism is such a complicated disorder, that you need to bring

dozens of different research paradigms to understand it. In that way,

it & rsquo;s the ultimate multidisciplinary disease, & rdquo; said Moldin,

who is also research professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences

at the Keck School.

& ldquo;If I had to think of one disease that could unite researchers

from the most fields at USC, it would definitely be autism. & rdquo;

Randolph Hall, vice provost for research advancement, said,

& ldquo;This grant further demonstrates how USC is expanding its

portfolio of research that directly addresses critical societal

issues. & rdquo;

& ldquo;We & rsquo;re hoping to really fast-track some findings and the

understanding of the causes and environmental factors that could

possibly be implicated in autism, & rdquo; Lajonchere said.

Since its founding by Cure Autism Now in 1997, AGRE has grown under

Lajonchere & rsquo;s leadership to include data from more than 1,500

families with multiple cases of autism. AGRE became part of Autism

Speaks when that organization merged with Cure Autism Now in

February.

Along with Lajonchere and Moldin, Amaral of the MIND Institute

at the University of California, will serve as co-director of

the new center. Besides USC, AGRE and UC , the other

institutions involved in the center are Childrens Hospital Los

Angeles, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and the University

of Massachusetts Medical School.

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