Autism Speaks, Science, Grants Program

Research We Have Funded

What We Fund & How We Fund It

Open Grants & How to Apply

Research We Have Funded

January 2009 – In 2008, Autism Speaks launched specially-designed funding mechanisms to bring a focus on international autism epidemiology research, and now announces its committment of $1.5 million to five new studies focused on global autism prevalence and risk factors. View the Winter 2008 International Epidemiology grant summaries here.

This year Autism Speaks also announces the launching of a novel research vehicle – the new High Risk-High Impact (HR-HI) initiative – conceived to support cutting-edge research in areas that are under-investigated or which could benefit substantially by bringing in outside experts. $2 million has been awarded for five ambitious proposals. View abstracts for these unique projects here.

December 2008 – Autism Speaks is pleased to announce a new set of pilot study and basic and clinical research grants. The topics that will be explored are diverse ranging from clinical topics such as understanding the factors that put adolescents with Asperger syndrome at risk for bullying and sleep problems, to basic science such as environmental risk factors for autism and genetic studies that focus on how genes influence biochemical pathways. "All of these grants were chosen for their potential impact on quality of life of individuals with autism and the development of new treatments," noted Geri Dawson, Chief Science Officer at Autism Speaks. View the Winter 2008 Pilot Study grants here. View the Winter 2008 Basic and Clinical grants here.

September 25, 2008 – Autism Speaks has announced announced a total of $1,244,000 in grants for seventeen new Pre-Doctoral and Post-Doctoral Fellowships – two-year grants awarded to support the efforts of graduate student and postdoctoral researchers working in fields related to autism. The fellowships will not only fund a diverse group of exciting research projects on the etiology, biology, diagnosis and treatment of autism, but, most importantly, will encourage the development of promising young scientists who wish to devote their careers to autism research. View the 2008 Fellowship grants here.

September 18, 2008 – Autism Speaks has announced more than $3.6 million in grant awards over the next three years for 12 new studies focusing on environmental factors in autism. In doing so, Autism Speaks furthers its committment to funding innovative projects that focus attention on potential environmental contributions to autism spectrum disorders. The projects range in approach and scope, but include areas of toxicology, immunology, epigenetics, and animal models. View the 2008 Environmental Factors awards here.

July 2008 – Autism Speaks has announced more than $4.5 million in grant awards for basic and clinical research dedicated to autism. The 24 newly funded projects take a variety of approaches towards revealing the underlying biology and causes of autism. Two types of grants were awarded: two-year Pilot grants that explore newer, particularly innovative lines of research, and three-year Basic and Clinical grants that build on more established research.

June 2008 – As part of its commitment to establishing effective treatments for those affected by autism, Autism Speaks has announced more than $3.8 million in grant awards to investigate promising treatments over the next three years. Thirteen innovative grant proposals were selected, including six proposals from Autism Speaks' first review session devoted solely to studies of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) approaches. This research will help parents make informed choices for their family members at a time when treatment options for autism are far from standardized. View the 2008 Treatment Awards here.

Publications

In addition to leveraging their AS/CAN/NAAR-funded studies to earn larger autism research grants from the National Institutes of Health and other sources, researchers funded by AS/CAN/NAAR have experienced significant success publishing their studies in numerous scientific journals and books. These publications play a key role in enhancing the scientific community's understanding of autism spectrum disorders and elevating the caliber of the science.

Autism Speaks is proud to present this partial list of articles that have resulted from AS/CAN/NAAR-funded research from 1996 to 2007. The funded researchers are listed in bold.

Select from the following links to review publications for that year:

2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1997/96