By integrative practitioner staff
Last week, Boston Children’s Hospital, Texas Children’s Hospital, and Baylor College received grants worth up to $17.5 million each from Aligning Research to the Impact of Autism (ARIA) and became participants in the project The Innovative Medicine and Precision Methods for Clinical Trials (IMPACT) network.. The IMPACT Network is an ARIA-funded international project that brings together 12 clinical sites across the US, UK and Canada to collaborate on accelerating clinical trial readiness and driving therapeutic innovation for autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). ARIA is a collaborative initiative that leverages advances in research, insights, and technologies across multiple scientific fields to drive discovery and support the development of treatment options for people with profound autism and the broader autism community.
“By building a coordinated, short-term study of this size, we can accelerate clinical trial readiness for genetic neurodevelopmental conditions and children with profound, underserved autism,” said Dr. Siddharth Srivastava, a pediatric neurologist and neurodevelopmental disability specialist at Boston Children’s Hospital. press release.
The initiative aims to characterize the development of six different genetic conditions associated with autism and related NDD, including disorders associated with mutations in genes. ARID1B, Coronary heart disease2, GRIN2B, RNU4-2, SCN2Aand SLC6A1. By continually collecting data across all participating sites, the IMPACT Network seeks to overcome long-standing challenges that have hindered autism research. By joining forces across institutions, the goal is to enable faster and more efficient clinical trials and bring promising treatments to children sooner.
The award builds on ARIA’s previous support for Boston Children’s Hospital, including a grant for Dr. Mustafa Sahin to serve as co-leader of the Clinical Coordination Center, the central hub of the IMPACT network that oversees clinical research operations and provides administrative leadership.
For the Duncan Neuroresearch Institute (NRI) at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College, joining the initiative reflects the organizations’ longstanding investment in autism research and clinical care. Through this initiative, researchers at Baylor and Texas Children’s will participate in a short-term natural history and clinical study aimed at better understanding how autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions develop over time in children with profound autism.
“Support for the ARIA initiative could not have come at a better time, as our understanding of autism has advanced such that we now stand on an exciting precipice, ready to translate this progress into clinical trials and life-changing treatments for patients and their families,” said Dr. Jamie Holder, associate professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and principal investigator at the Jean and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital. Separate press release. “Joining the ARIA IMPACT Network will allow Baylor Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital to accelerate our incredible work to deliver effective treatments for people with autism and those with related neurodevelopmental disorders.”
