A network of leading autism researchers from three regions across the country has launched one of the largest research studies of its kind to investigate early risk factors for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The network, called the Early Autism Risk Longitudinal Investigation (EARLI), will follow a cohort of up to 1,200 pregnant women who already have a child with autism. The study is considered one of the best-equipped to discover biological markers and environmental risk factors for autism due to its elevated autism risk pregnancy cohort, wide ranging data collection with extensive bio-sampling, length of time it follows pregnant women and their babies, and multi-disciplinary team of expert investigators.

Under the study, researchers at four network field sites in three regions across the nation will study possible environmental risk factors and their interplay with genetic susceptibility during the prenatal, neonatal and early postnatal periods. The project will also investigate early biological indicators of autism. The EARLI Study is one of eleven National Institutes of Health Autism Centers of Excellence projects nationwide.

The Drexel University School of Public Health in Philadelphia is the national coordinator of the EARLI Study network. The local research sites for the study include: Drexel University School of Public Health/Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP); University of California at Davis/MIND Institute; Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore; and the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif.

“No other study can more comprehensively explore the impacts and interplay of environmental factors and genetic predisposition in the cause of autism,” said Craig Newschaffer, PhD, a department chair at the Drexel University School of Public Health and EARLI Study principal investigator. “Our approach is based on assessing potential autism risk factors through all-inclusive data collection that begins when a mother of a child with autism learns she is pregnant and continues through the early life of the new baby.”

The researchers aim to follow about 1,200 mothers of children with autism as soon as they become pregnant and document the development of the newborn through 36 months of age. “We also really need to involve families of children with autism in the study areas who may become pregnant in the future,” says Newschaffer. “If EARLI can stay in contact with large numbers of these families it will increase our chances of being able to follow mothers as soon as they become pregnant.”

According to EARLI researchers in the study, the study’s cohort of elevated autism risk pregnancies will help to greatly advance the understanding of possible autism environmental risk factors and biomarkers during different developmental windows, as well as the interplay of genetic susceptibility and environmental exposure. “The cohort will be one of the largest of its kind in the nation. By studying families who are already affected by autism, we feel we have the best chance at learning how genetics and environmental factors could work together to cause autism,” says Newschaffer. “The EARLI Study is expected to advance researchers’ understanding of the natural history and progression of ASD.”

“This study has unprecedented potential to help answer many of the questions families affected by autism face everyday, including questions about the genetic and environmental factors that contribute to autism,” says Linda Birnbaum, PhD, director of the Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. “The EARLI Study is a very comprehensive investigation that is geared towards identifying early signs of autism and understanding its earliest possible causes.”

Source: Autism Speaks