A network of leading autism researchers from three regions across the United States has launched one of the largest research studies of its kind to investigate early risk factors for Autism Spectrum Disorders. The network, called the Early Autism Risk Longitudinal Investigation, or 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. It has many advantages including its elevated autism risk pregnancy cohort, wide-ranging data collection with extensive bio-sampling, the 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; University of California at Davis/MIND Institute; Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/Kennedy Krieger Institute; and the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, California.

“No other study can more comprehensively explore the impacts and interplay of environmental factors and genetic predisposition in the cause of autism,” says Craig Newschaffer, 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.”

Austism Spectrum Disorders or ASDs refer to a group of complex neurobiological disorders that today are diagnosed in 1 out of 150 U.S. children. Boys are four times more likely to have an ASD than girls. ASDs are characterized by an impaired ability to relate to others and difficulties with verbal and nonverbal communication. Persons with ASDs also typically have repetitive behaviors, restricted interests, and/or tend to follow rigid routines. Although the degree of impairment across individuals with ASDs can vary, ASD is considered a serious developmental disability. The causes of autism are unknown and there is currently no cure. The prevalence of autism has increased ten-fold in the last decade. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention consider autism to be a national public health crisis.
The researchers plan 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. 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 was established with a $14-million Autism Centers of Excellence grant awarded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institute of Mental Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, all components of the National Institutes of Health, to the Drexel University School of Public Health. It is also supported by a $2.5-million grant from Autism Speaks.