YALE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
100 CHURCH ST. SOUTH, SUITE 212
P.O. BOX 7612
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT 06519-0612
(203) 785-5824, FAX (203) 785-4327
Helaine Patterson
AUTISM RESEARCH EXPANDS AT YALE
National Institutes of Health Names Yale One of Three Autism Research Centers Medical School Awarded $5.3 Million Grant
NEW HAVEN, Conn., June 24, 1997--The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) has selected Yale University School of Medicine as one of three universities to initiate a major research project on the neurobiology of autism, the most severe developmental disorder of childhood, and related conditions.
To conduct this research the NICHD, a component of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded $5.3 million to Yale over the next five years.
U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.) states, "The new research program on autism builds upon the internationally renowned research and clinical programs of the Yale University School of Medicine and the Child Study Center, whose researchers are at the forefront of developmental neuroscience.
"This work is a proven example of the federal investment in basic research and the impact it can have in people's daily lives. Without sustained federal support for high quality research programs, facilities, and training programs to develop future basic and clinical researchers, future advances in many areas, including brain-based psychiatric disorders, would be much more difficult to achieve," the congresswoman adds. "This grant is a model of using science to serve the clinical needs of children and families and make a real difference in their lives."
Autism, which arises as a result of neurobiological factors, affects the development and behavior of 1 in 1,000 children. Although the disorder results from some insult to the developing brain, its cause or causes remain unknown. Less information is known about other pervasive developmental disorders, such as Asperger's syndrome which shares several features with autism.
"We hope that this research will provide greater understanding of autism and also enable us to develop improved treatment," states Fred R. Volkmar, M.D., the new Yale center's principal investigator, who will direct the research program. "In most cases, infants who are born with this disorder lack the usual disposition to form social relationships. Profound deficits in social interaction and communication are associated with unusual behaviors such as repetitive movements, difficulties in dealing with change, and abnormal responses to the non-social environment."
His colleague, Dr. Donald J. Cohen, the Irving B. Harris Professor of Child Psychiatry and director of the Yale Child Study Center, comments, "This new research grant on autism builds upon five decades of research and treatment within the Child Study Center. Physicians and scientists from many disciplines within Yale and at two collaborating universities will pool methods and findings in this unique program of rigorous research.
"This project-the largest research commitment in the history of the field--is truly welcomed by parents and advocates, who appreciate that only through such study can the prognosis of autism really be improved," Dr. Cohen adds.
Dr. Volkmar says, "Faculty at the Yale Child Study Center will join colleagues at the University of Chicago and University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) to conduct a series of major studies on the molecular and family genetics of autism and its related conditions and of brain imagining projects. We also will study developmental changes when individuals with autism receive treatment.
"Even though early intervention and detection have improved the outcome, the human and financial cost of autism and related conditions remains very high," adds Dr. Volkmar, also the Harris Associate Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics and Psychology. He will collaborate with Catherine Lord, Ph.D., at the University of Chicago, and Susan Smalley, Ph.D., at UCLA.
"Since our research focuses on addressing the neurobiological factors which cause autism and related disorders, we will conduct work that ranges from the level of the gene to the brain and the expression of these conditions behaviorally in individuals," Dr. Volkmar notes. Researchers will concentrate on four interrelated areas:
* Role of genetic factors in autism.
Genetics factors play a role in at least some cases of autism. As part of this project, Edwin Cooke, M.D., University of Chicago; David L. Pauls, Ph.D., associate professor in the Yale Child Study Center; and Dr. Smalley of UCLA will attempt to identify the gene or genes involved in some cases of autism by studying families in which more than one child has autism or closely related conditions.
Data will be pooled with an international genetic study of autism directed by Professor Michael Rutter of the University of London. Collaborating with him will be several Yale medical professionals, including Domenic V. Cicchetti, Ph.D., senior research scientists in psychiatry and the Child Study Center; Ami Klin, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Child Study Center; Robert Schultz, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Child Study Center, and Drs. Cohen and Pauls.
* Related genetic and psychiatric conditions in family members of persons with autism and Asperger's syndrome, a condition similar to autism. Drs. Pauls and Smalley will assess the relationship of other conditions, such as Tourette's syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression, to autism and Asperger's syndrome in patients and family members. Previous research has suggested that family members may be at increased risk for some of these conditions.
Asperger's syndrome, however, seems to be associated with a different developmental profile, including more preserved language skills; related problems also appear more frequently in family members.
* Neuroimaging of brain areas which may be involved in autism.
Jennifer Levitt, M.D., UCLA., and Dr. Schultz hope to identify ways in which the brain processes information differently in individuals with autism and other conditions. They plan to use both structural and functional brain imaging methods to examine anatomical brain differences.
* Ways in which the development of individuals with autism develop and change as they are treated. Dr. Lord University of Chicago, Yale Drs. Klin and Volkmar will assess the range of outcomes and patterns of these individuals' developmental course as they relate to intensity of intervention, age at diagnosis and other clinical factors.
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