UIC recently was awarded a $9.6 million, five year grant from the National Institutes of Health to establish an Autism Center of Excellence, one of five funded centers in the United States and the only Midwest site.
The center will be an interdisciplinary program of translational research encompassing genetics, biochemistry, neurophysiology, neuroimaging and behavior. Researchers will investigate the underlying causes and potential treatment for a common problem related to autism known as insistence on sameness, or repetitive behavior.
“Problems related to repetitive behaviors, such as anxiety and aggression, are among the most troublesome and debilitating for individuals with autism and their families,” says Edwin Cook, MD, professor of psychiatry, who is director of the autism center and also director of the laboratory of developmental neuroscience at UIC’s Institute for Juvenile Research.
People with autism often have difficulty communicating and forming relationships. Autism spectrum disorders affect about one in 160 individuals, and approximately one-third of people with autism have serious repetitive behavior problems, according to Cook. Disruption in rituals or routines for these children and adults can result in prolonged tantrums, screaming, violence or physical injury.
Previous research has shown that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor medications, also known as SSRI drugs, are effective and can improve quality of life dramatically in some patients with repetitive behaviors and obsessive compulsive disorder.
“It’s wonderful when we have patients who respond to medication and do well, but we have many patients who either do not respond, or only partially respond, and who end up with strong compulsions involving aggression,” Cook says.
The center’s focus on repetitive behavior will allow testing and development of new individualized treatments and improvement of available drug treatments to best complement behavioral interventions, according to Cook.
Three collaborative projects within the UIC Autism Center of Excellence will investigate the genetics of serotonin in autism, identify patients who best respond to SSRI treatment based on genetic markers, and use brain imaging and neurobehavioral studies to determine the effects of SSRI drugs before and after treatment.
“The goal of the center is to approach this vexing clinical problem from genetic, cognitive neuroscience and pharmacological approaches, across species, in an unusually integrated way,”
Cook says. The center is seeking families of people who have an autism spectrum disorder for a research study of brain disorders and the genetics of autism. For more information, e-mail autism@uic.edu or call (312) 413-4624.