Marcus Autism Center and Emory University have received significant funding to join a new international network, advancing personalised treatments like gene therapy and brain stimulation for children with profound autism.
Marcus Autism Center and Emory University School of Medicine have secured up to $17.25 million from Aligning Research to Impact Autism to join a new international clinical trials effort aimed at improving care for children with profound autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions. The funding places the Atlanta-based institutions among the first 12 sites chosen in the new Innovative Medicine and Precision Approaches to Clinical Trials Network, which brings together research centres in the United States and Europe.
According to a Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta announcement, the grant will support work that combines clinical research with precision medicine approaches, including gene therapy and direct brain stimulation. The first study under the programme, called ARIA IMPACT-Ready, will focus on the natural history of profound autism and related conditions, laying the groundwork for future trials.
The new award comes on top of a separate $21.9 million donation from The Marcus Foundation to Marcus Autism Center for what the organisation describes as the largest study yet of behavioural, brain and genomic biomarkers in children across the autism spectrum and in related genetic neurodevelopmental conditions. Together, the two grants total nearly $40 million. Ami Klin, director of Marcus Autism Center, said the work would place the centre within one of the most advanced autism research networks ever assembled.
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