RSS FeedsThe HRB provides funding for Irish researchers participating in a leading international consortium that aims to find the genes that contribute to the risk of developing autism. The Autism Genome Project (AGP) will receive a total investment of €12 million from a variety of international organisations over three years (2007 – 2009).
Irish researchers led by Prof Michael Gill and Prof Andrew Green play a major role in the research project. The HRB funding supports research that aims to identify genes contributing to the risk for autism in a large sample of individuals and families with autism that have been recruited in Ireland and around the world. The aim is to find a link between clinical and genetic information in patients and come to a better understanding of the factors contributing to autism. This will be crucial to the development of diagnostics, targeted treatment and intervention.
The research is being carried out by the Irish Autism Genetics Collaboration, a partnership between researchers in Trinity College Dublin (TCD), University College Dublin (UCD) and their associated hospitals (The Adelaide and Meath Hospital, Dublin Incorporating the National Children's Hospital [AMiNCH], the National Centre for Medical Genetics and the Health Service Executive.)
