Health Research Board

$20 million awarded for international research initiative on autism
HRB to provide up to €5 million for Irish research team

Release Date:

Wednesday 15 December 2004

Summary:

The Health Research Board has announced €5 million for autism research as part of a new major international research initiative to help improve international understanding of the genetic causes of autism. The HRB is joining forces with organisations in the United States and Canada to award research grants to identify specific genes or gene variants, which may make people more susceptible to autism.

Full Story:

The Health Research Board has announced €5 million for autism research as part of a new major international research initiative to help improve international understanding of the genetic causes of autism. The HRB is joining forces with organisations in the United States and Canada to award research grants to identify specific genes or gene variants, which may make people more susceptible to autism.

A total of $20 million is being made available to research teams who will be selected by peer review in Ireland, America and Canada. The HRB will provide up to €1,000,000 each year, for five years, to the selected team of Irish researchers on behalf of the Department of Health and Children.

Autism is a complex neuro-developmental disorder, which sets in during early childhood. International prevalence studies estimate that 1.68 per 1,000 people have autistic disorders and 4.45 per 1,000 people have other autistic spectrum disorders*. “There is strong evidence from a number of studies on twins and families that genetic factors play a role in autism,” said Ruth Barrington, Chief Executive at the Health Research Board. “This study is vital because it will research the way in which autism is inherited, which is much more complicated,” she explained.

The HRB has signed a memorandum of understanding with the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center, Cure Autism Now and the National Alliance for Autism Research to conduct the study. “We welcome the opportunity to cooperate with these leading international research organisations on this essential research,” concluded Dr Barrington.

Applications are now being sought from teams of researchers with an interest and expertise in this area. Applications will be reviewed initially under NIH peer review procedures. Detailed information and the Request For Applications (RFA) are available on the NIH website under the theme, <q>identifying autism susceptibility genes</q>

* Statistics from Chakrabarti S and Fombonne E. Pervasive developmental disorders in preschool children. Journal of the American Medical Association, 2001, 285: 3093-3099.

Ends

Contact:

Gillian Markey