Autism Speaks, Science, Sponsored Programs, Research on High Risk Baby Sibs

The High Risk Baby Siblings Research Consortium was established in 2003 with the goal of bringing together the major research groups in the field to discover the earliest behavioral and biomedical markers of autism spectrum disorder. The group currently consists of 23 accomplished scientists – representing 19 research institutions across the United States, Canada, and Israel – who share a commitment to work collaboratively to improve the lives of those affected with autism and related disorders. These scientists are involved in rigorous, cutting-edge research that will lead to the identification of early markers and the development of treatments for preventing or ameliorating symptom development and expression, optimizing developmental outcomes, and enhancing family adaptation.

As the recurrence rate of autism in families where one person is affected is possibly 10-fold higher than that seen in the general population, this group has the unique opportunity to study autism at the earliest stages of life. This makes possible the identification of the underlying neurobiological mechanisms that lead to the development of autism. In addition, these projects can have a collective impact on the research and clinical communities by developing recommendations and guidelines that inform clinical practice and policy.

The High Risk Baby Siblings Research Consortium is a partnership between Autism Speaks and the National Institutes of Health, led by the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development. Autism Speaks began funding baby sibling research in 1997 and has since committed over $7 million to this project, both in scientific research and programmatic activities.

Autism Speaks, the CDC, and the Advertising Council have launched a new program to educate teachers about the importance of early intervention for autism. Read a press release about this new program here.

Autism Speaks has announced its commitment of $5 million to investigate genetic and environmental risk factors for autism. The project will expand and link two large-scale, multi-site studies – the Early Autism Risk Longitudinal Investigation (EARLI) and Infant Brain Imaging Study (IBIS) and will facilitate the collaborative prospective study of more than 1500 infant siblings of children with autism. This support will allow these two projects to expand data collection in each project during critical periods of development, including genetic, neurobiological, diagnostic and environmental information on families recruited. Read a press release about this project here.