Marcus Autism Center, a subsidiary of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, along with Emory University School of Medicine were awarded up to $17.25 million from Aligning Research to Impact Autism (ARIA) to join a newly formed international autism clinical trials network called the Innovative Medicine and Precision Approaches to Clinical Trials (IMPACT) Network.

One of the largest autism centers in the U.S., Marcus Autism Center earlier this year received $21.9 million from The Marcus Foundation to conduct the largest-ever study of behavior, brain, and genomic biomarkers in children across the autism spectrum and associated genetic neurodevelopmental conditions. The two grants combined total nearly $40 million in funds to advance therapies for children with profound autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions.

ARIA is an initiative to accelerate scientific discovery and create more therapeutic opportunities for people with profound autism and people on the spectrum who seek additional support. The IMPACT Network is the first large network of its kind and will begin with a focus on genetic discovery for profound autism and related genetically based neurodevelopmental disorders.

“We're very proud to be a part of one of the most advanced clinical trials networks ever in the history of autism research,” said Ami Klin, PhD, Principal Investigator and Director of Marcus Autism Center. “We are thrilled to join this extraordinary network of scientific sites around the country and abroad, all working in lockstep to advance knowledge, discovery and new treatments for profound autism and related neurological conditions. As the network grows, it will become the largest network ever in our field.”

The research includes collaboration with Children’s Behavioral and Mental Health and Neurosciences Research Programs, Emory University’s Department of Human Genetics, and the Tri-Institutional Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS). With these collaborators, a team of researchers at the Marcus Autism Center will study children with profound autism and genetically based neurodevelopmental disorders. The focus is advanced experimental trials using innovative precision medicine approaches such as gene therapy and direct brain stimulation.

Led by Dr. Klin, who is also a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, the Bernie Marcus Distinguished Chair in Autism and Professor and Division Chief of Autism and Neurodevelopment at Emory University School of Medicine, Marcus Autism Center is one of an initial 12 sites selected from the U.S. and Europe to join the network. As a Children’s and Emory site, it received full funding, the most possible among the awards distributed. This first round of funding from ARIA for the network prioritizes focus areas in genetic medicine, protein-protein interactions, human developmental neurobiology, neuro-sensing and neuromodulation, and functional communication. ARIA will expand the IMPACT Network to include other sites during its second year of operations.

To lay the foundation, the network’s first study, the ARIA IMPACT-Ready study, will focus on the natural history of those with profound autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions. Site investigators will observe and track how the conditions progress over time in patients to better understand how it develops and affects daily life. Findings will inform the direction of future clinical trials that follow.