In 1997, NAAR awarded its first research grants, committing approximately $150,000 to fund five pilot studies in autism research taking place in throughout the United States.

Barry Gordon, M.D., Ph.D.
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
"Training of Speech Perception and Speech Comprehension in Autistic Children: A Combined Behavioral-Neurophysiological Pilot Study."
Award Amount: $30,000

Margaret A. Pericak-Vance, Ph.D.
Duke University Center for Human Genetics, Durham, NC
"Genetic Studies in Autistic Disorders"
Award Amount: $29,120

W. Ian Lipkin, M.D.
University of California-Irvine, Irvine, CA
"Bornavirus Infection and Autism Pathogeneses"
Award Amount: $30,000

Rebecca Landa, Ph.D.
The Kennedy-Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD
"Core Deficits of Autism: Evidence from Infant Siblings of Autistic Probands"
Award Amount: $29,700

Pauline A. Filipek, M.D.
University of California-Irvine, Irvine, CA
"Autism: A Model of Anomalous Neural Systems Development"
Award Amount: $29,997