Event Summaries about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Elise Robinson, Sc.D., discussed rare and common genetic risk factors for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and the association between those risk factors and ASD heterogeneity.

On October 5, 2020, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) held a virtual Town Hall to bring together the NIMH Alliance for Research Progress and the NIMH Professional Coalition for Research Progress. The meeting featured three presentations from National Institutes of Health (NIH) staff who spoke about ongoing mental health research initiatives, a brief discussion panel with these presenters, and an hour-long question-and-answer session with Dr. Joshua Gordon, Director of NIMH, outlining NIMH’s new outreach approach to increase public access to mental health research, and to facilitate communication between NIMH, professional societies, and advocacy groups.

The NIMH Division of Services and Intervention Research convened a meeting of grantees who are conducting research on services for transition-age youth and adults with autism spectrum disorder.

The NIMH Division of Intramural Research Programs (IRP) convened a workshop to develop and promote Electrophysiologic Sleep Phenotyping (ESP) as a mainstay of the clinical assessment of children at risk for neurodevelopmental disorders.

The NIMH Division of Services and Intervention Research convened a meeting with researchers from the initial Services Research for Autism Spectrum Disorder Across the Lifespan (ServASD) funding opportunity announcement.

The NIMH Division of Neuroscience and Basic Behavioral Science, with support from the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, convened a workshop to address the needs for quantitative measurement of human social interactions in psychiatric populations.

The NIMH Services Research and Clinical Epidemiology Branch convened a one-day meeting with researchers from the NIMH Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Pediatric, Early Detection, Engagement and Services (ASD PEDS) Research Network to discuss multiple strategies for universal ASD screening and early referral to services for toddlers ages 0-3.

Extramural investigators from the 3 centers and 9 networks that comprise the NIH Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE) Program, convened for their annual meeting to provide ACE investigators an opportunity to share the progress of their respective centers and networks, and to discuss current challenges and promising innovations in the field of autism spectrum disorder research.