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Dr. Tom Insel on Demystifying Autism

12 May

Dr. Tom Insel wears many hats, as they say. He is the director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), one of the National Institutes of Health run by the US Government. As part of his function there, he chairs the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC). The IACC prepares the “Strategic Plan” for the government’s activities in autism research.

Dr. Insel has obviously taken autism research very seriously. He doesn’t just chair the IACC, he obviously spends a lot of time reviewing autism research. I doubt many people at the Director level at NIH would spend the amount of time Dr. Insel obviously spends on autism.

He has recently given a few talks on autism, the current state of knowledge and the directions for research. One such talk was at NIH and was titled Demystifying Autism . Another talk was given at MIT and was hosted by the Simons Foundation. (sorry, I can’t find embed code for those talks)

Dr. Insel talks about how there is a large diversity in the autism population. The “spectrum” is broad, as likely most readers to this blog will already know. In both talks, Dr. Insel uses video from Dov Shestak (son of Portia Iverson and Jon Shestak, founders of Cure Autism Now, which is now part of Autism Speaks). This is used to give an example of regression in autistics.

Of course one large section is devoted to the increasing autism prevalence. Dr. Insel mentions the epidemiological work of Peter Bearman, which shows that much of the increase in the California Department of Developmental Services autism caseload can be accounted for by diagnostic changes and social factors. But, not all of the increase has been accounted for. Dr. Insel uses the term that the burden of proof is on those who would say that the increase is not “real”. I would put it differently–that given the lack of definitive information on the causes of the rise, we should continue to look for possible environmental causes. Many use the term “environmental cause” to mean “vaccines”. That’s not what I, or it appears, Dr. Insel mean though.

Dr. Insel discusses one yet-unpublished study: the California Twin Study.

Here is his power point slide (which you can click to enlarge if you wish):

Slide showing results of yet unpublished twin study

Dr. Insel's slide on Twin Study

or–

Narrow criteria:
monozygotic (“identical”)–80% concordance
dizygotic (“fraternal”)– 26% concordance
.
broad criteria
monozygotic–87% concordance
dizygotic– 39% concordance

This is consistent with a recent study from the Kennedy Kreiger Institute at Johns Hopkins. While this wasn’t discussed by Dr. Insel, I include the abstract for that study below:

OBJECTIVES: To examine patterns of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) inheritance and other features in twin pairs by zygosity, sex, and specific ASD diagnosis. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Internet-based autism registry for US residents. PARTICIPANTS: Survey results from 277 twin pairs (210 dizygotic [DZ] and 67 monozygotic [MZ]) aged 18 years or younger with at least 1 affected twin. MAIN EXPOSURES: Zygosity and sex. OUTCOME MEASURES: Concordance within twin pairs of diagnosis, natural history, and results from standardized autism screening. RESULTS: Pairwise ASD concordance was 31% for DZ and 88% for MZ twins. Female and male MZ twins were 100% and 86% concordant, respectively, and DZ twin pairs with at least 1 female were less likely to be concordant (20%) than were male-male DZ twin pairs (40%). The hazard ratio for ASD diagnosis of the second twin after a first-twin diagnosis was 7.48 for MZ vs DZ twins (95% confidence interval, 3.8-14.7). Affected DZ individual twins had an earlier age at first parental concern and more frequent diagnoses of intellectual disability than did MZ twins; MZ twins had a higher prevalence of bipolar disorder and Asperger syndrome and higher concordance of the latter. Results of autism screening correlated with parent-reported ASD status in more than 90% of cases. CONCLUSIONS: Our data support greater ASD concordance in MZ vs DZ twins. Overall higher functioning, psychiatric comorbidity, and Asperger syndrome concordance among affected MZ vs DZ twins may also suggest differential heritability for different ASDs. For families in which one MZ twin is diagnosed with ASD, the second twin is unlikely to receive an ASD diagnosis after 12 months. In addition, Internet parent report of ASD status is valid.

Concordance is when one child has an ASD, does the other one? 100% concordance would mean that if one twin has an ASD, the other twin does as well. That would indicate that autism is purely genetic.

Most people will concentrate on the monozygotic concordance. Even with the broad criteria, there is 87% concordance. That would indicate that at least some fraction of the cause of autism is not genetic. This is a very complicated question, as Joseph at the Autism Natural Variation blog has discussed.

What is astounding to me is the dyzogotic concordance. Take the 39% for the broad criteria. My recollection is that the concordance for siblings is about 4% if one sibling is male, and about 10% if one sibling is female. I’m trying to find the study on this. But, is there a higher concordance for dizygotic twins than for siblings in general?

Dr. Insel spends a fair amount of time on the genetic studies involved in autism. He attributes about 15% of the current autistic population as being linked to known genetic conditions. This is a pretty common estimate in the community.

One interesting fact: the known genes associated with autism are neurodevelopmental and involved with synapses. He even titles the slide as “Autism as a synaptic disease” and proposes that synaptic function might be the unifying feature of autism.

Dr. Insel notes that there are many chemicals whose neurotoxicity have not been determined. He also notes that there are some known chemicals which increase the risk of autism–valproic acid, Thalidomide and misoprostal. For all of these there is a critical window of time–in the first or early second trimester of pregnancy–where the autism risk is increased. Thalidomide, for example, is considered to be causal in a short period of time–from 20 to 24 days gestation.

If you want to see the direction Dr. Insel may take autism research in the future, these talks are worth listening to. I think it safe to say that autism research will continue to look for causes, genetic and environmental. Environmental cause research will likely focus on prenatal exposures. Study will continue on the physical structure of the brain, the “circuitry” to help define what autism is and what the phenotypes may be. Study will continue on interventions, with a look towards earlier interventions (before age 1, possibly before symptoms are visible). Intervention research will look to be tailored to the individual, which will require some way to phenotype autism.

As I noted above, I think Dr. Insel is taking a close interest in autism. He doesn’t dictate the goals for autism research, but I think listening to what he has to say gives in interesting insight into the directions it may be going.

Trends in US autism research funding: more money going to clinical and translational research

11 May

Where money is being spent on autism research is changing. Basic science, which still gets most of the money, is decreasing and clinical and translational research is increasing.

If you are like me, you have to look up “translational research”. From the link above, “To improve human health, scientific discoveries must be translated into practical applications.” I.e. this is research to “translate” basic findings into practical applications.

This was analyzed in a paper published last year by a team at Stanford University in California:

Trends in US autism research funding.

Singh J, Illes J, Lazzeroni L, Hallmayer J.

Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics, Center for Integration of Research on Genetics and Ethics, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
Abstract

This study shows that the number of autism research grants funded in the US from 1997 to 2006 significantly increased 15% per year. Although the majority of projects were concentrated in basic science (65%) compared to clinical (15%) and translational research (20%), there is a significant decrease in the proportion of basic research grants per year and a significant increase in the proportion of translational projects per year. The number of translational projects funded by the National Alliance for Autism Research and Cure Autism Now increased significantly, whereas the number of clinical projects significantly increased for the National Institutes of Health. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the shifting landscape of autism research from basic science to clinical and translational research.

The study analyzed grants up to 2006. This is before the increase in funding through the Combating Autism Act. The current budget for IACC proposes projects is about $220,000,000 per year, with a total for all years of over one billion dollars. Over $230 million are dedicated to “Which treatments and interventions will help?”

As noted here on LeftBrainRightBrain, funding levels for areas such as environmental causation have increased, overtaking genetic only causation research in funding levels.

High powered vistors to the IACC meeting

3 May

The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee met last Friday. The agenda included talks by Department of Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius, National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins and White House Staffer Mike Strautmanis.

Let’s put this in some perspective. Secretary Sebelius is one step down from the President of the United States in the Executive Branch of government.

The IACC is already chaired by the director of the National Institute of Mental Health, Dr. Thomas Insel. Dr. Insel holds a rather high level position to be chair of this committee, indicating a strong commitment to the IACC. Dr. Collins would be, in effect, Dr. Insel’s boss. His presence at the IACC meeting is significant.

The White House sent Mike Stratmanis is chief of staff to Valerie Jarrett, who is one of President Obama’s senior advisors. Mr. Stratmanis is also the father of an autistic child.

The Federal members of the IACC include a number of people at the director level in the NIH and elsewhere.

I think it is safe to say that autism research has the attention of the U.S. government.

The IACC is the focus of a lot of scrutiny and a lot of pressure. Given the importance of the IACC’s mission, some pressure and scrutiny is very much warranted. I think one can be critical of the IACC and its members–I’ve done so here on this blog. But, I think it is important for the discussion to remain respectful and factual. Often the discussion has, well, gone past those boundaries.

The IACC and Dr. Insel became part of the “enemy” to many in the online parent community when they decided to not fund vaccine-causation research.

Yes, autism research and the IACC have the attention of powerful people. This was very important last year when the President allocated large amounts of economic stimulus money to autism research. The fact that the IACC had a Strategic Plan in place to justify this expenditure should go down as one of the successes of that committee. Without the Plan, it is very possible that the Stimulus money might not have been applied to autism research.

Next year comes a major date for the IACC. The Combating Autism Act has, as most governmental programs do, a “sunset clause”. Read the Act and you will find this phrase repeated: “Sunset- This section shall not apply after September 30, 2011.”

Read the proposed budget for autism research–the final year is 2011.

I doubt that the IACC will be dissolved and that autism funding will cease in 2011. I believe autism research is a good investment for the American people and should continue. But it is time to admit to ourselves that we, the autism communities, are not entitled to this support. It can be taken away or reduced.

Finding common ground at the IACC

1 May

The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) met Friday. New members were introduced, including Ari Ne’eman of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.

The autism communities are far from unanimous in goals and methods. Given the makeup of the IACC, consisting as it does of governmental agencies plus public members of organizations that have been highly critical of each other, one might wonder if it anything could get accomplished.

But, in the end, most groups have more than a single goal. And, if you remember back to your set theory lessons, that leads to intersections–overlap–common ground.

I was reminded of this watching the IACC meeting. I could only watch bits and pieces during the day. One standout part of the morning came when Jim Moody of the National Autism Association gave a public comment talking about issues of safety, elopement, drownings–preventable deaths of autistics young and old.

Towards the end of the meeting I listened to a number of people refer back to this presentation. Amongst these commenters was Ari Ne’eman. Mr. Ne’eman obviously took the idea seriously and was calling for serious consideration of how this could be implemented into the Strategic Plan, calling for input from the services subcommittee.

I know the idea of safety are not new to Mr. Ne’eman. I contacted him recently when I was preparing a piece, Search and Rescue and autistics.

The members of the IACC span a wide diversity of ideas and viewpoints. Diversity, that’s a good thing.

But, working together for the common good: that’s common ground. Ideas that span diverse organizations and viewpoints. That is a very good thing.

Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee welcomes new members

30 Apr

The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) is a U.S. government committee which oversees autism research activities of the various U.S. agencies. The committee is made up of a representatives of those agencies plus members of the public.

The current public members are:

Lee Grossman
President and CEO
Autism Society

Yvette M. Janvier, M.D.
Medical Director
Children’s Specialized Hospital

Christine M. McKee, J.D.

Lyn Redwood, R.N., M.S.N.
Co-Founder and Vice President
Coalition for SafeMinds

Stephen M. Shore, Ed.D.
Executive Director
Autism Spectrum Consulting

Alison Tepper Singer, M.B.A.
President
Autism Science Foundation

Here is the announcement for the new members

Secretary Sebelius Announces New Members of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today the appointment of five new members to the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), a federal advisory committee created in an effort to accelerate progress in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) research and services.

The committee is composed of a diverse group of federal officials from HHS agencies and the Department of Education, as well as public members that include people with ASD, parents of people with ASD, and leaders of national ASD advocacy and research organizations.

In January 2009, the IACC released its first strategic plan for autism research. The IACC released a second edition of its strategic plan in January 2010.

“Today I am pleased to announce new members of the IACC, who will bring additional points of view and expertise to the committee,” Secretary Sebelius said. “I look forward to hearing from the committee members on important matters that affect people with autism and their families as we continue our efforts to address this urgent public health challenge.”

ASDs are a group of developmental disabilities that cause major social, communication and behavioral challenges with symptoms that present before age 3. ASDs affect each person in different ways and can range from very mild to severe. People with ASDs share some similar symptoms, such as problems with social interaction. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that an average of 1 in every 110 children in the United States has some form of ASD.

For more information on the IACC, visit http://www.iacc.hhs.gov/

New Members of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee

Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D.
As chief science officer for Autism Speaks, Dr. Dawson works with the scientific community and stakeholders to shape and expand the foundation’s scientific vision. She also is a licensed clinical psychologist with a research focus on early detection and intervention, early patterns of brain dysfunction and the identification of biological markers for autism genetic studies. Dr. Dawson also serves as research professor of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, adjunct professor of psychiatry at Columbia University and professor emeritus of psychology at University of Washington.

Gerald D. Fischbach, M.D.
Dr. Fischbach is the scientific director for the Simons Foundation where he oversees the Autism Research Initiative. He has spent his career as a neuroscientist studying the formation and maintenance of synapses, the junctions between nerve cells which allow signals to be transmitted. Before joining the Simons Foundation, Dr. Fischbach served as the Director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke from 1998 to 2001 and as the Executive Vice President of Columbia University Medical Center and Dean of the faculties of medicine from 2001 to 2006.

Ari Ne’eman
Mr. Ari Ne’eman is the founding president of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, where he works to increase the representation of autistic people in public policy discussions. He is an adult on the autism spectrum and a leading advocate in the neurodiversity movement. Mr. Ne’eman has served on the New Jersey Adults with Autism Task Force and the New Jersey Special Education Review Commission, where he authored a minority report advocating legislative action against the use of aversives, restraint and seclusion. He is a board member of TASH, an advocacy group for people with disabilities, and is involved with the Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education.

Denise D. Resnik
Denise Resnik is the co-founder and board development chair of the Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center (SARRC). She is the mother of an 18-year-old son with autism. Ms. Resnik serves on the Autism Speaks Family Services Committee and Advancing Futures for Adults with Autism (AFAA) Steering Committee. She participated in the 2006 NIMH Autism Matrix Review and the IACC Scientific Workshops to develop the IACC Strategic Plan and subsequent updates.

Marjorie Solomon, Ph.D.
Assistant professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the University of California, Davis

Dr. Marjorie Solomon is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, Davis. She serves on the Faculty of the Medical Investigation of Neurological Disorders (MIND) Institute and the Autism Research Training Program where she conducts research on a social skills training intervention for high-functioning children with ASD, incorporating parents and siblings in the research. In addition to her clinical research work, Dr. Solomon studies cognition and learning in high-functioning individuals with ASD.

Who deserves a seat on the IACC?

29 Apr

There is a lot of lobbying for a seat on the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee. This committee’s job is to plan and coordinate research efforts in autism amongst the various U.S. governmental agencies involved.

Membership in the IACC is split between government employees representing these agencies and public members. It is the public membership that draws attention. Many groups would like a seat at that table. Generation Rescue has lobbied in the past for a seat one the IACC or, better yet, on an “autism advisory board” which would oversee even the IACC.

Katie Wright, board member of SafeMinds, the National Autism Association and Generation Rescue, has been rather vocal on the subject on their group’s blog. She has voiced an opinion that the public slots should go to people who represent groups with large constituencies. She was highly critical of one IACC parent member, claiming (falsely) that this parent was only on the IACC due to connections with Tom Insel (the IACC chair). While she has acknowledged her error, Ms. Write remained of the opinion that a mere parent does not belong on the IACC.

Given that the IACC is scheduled to announce new members tomorrow, I thought I would look at the membership requirements. The IACC membership is discussed in the Combating Autism Act, as follows:

(c) Membership-

(1) IN GENERAL- The Committee shall be composed of–

(A) the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;

(B) the Director of the National Institutes of Health, and the Directors of such national research institutes of the National Institutes of Health as the Secretary determines appropriate;

(C) the heads of such other agencies as the Secretary determines appropriate;

(D) representatives of other Federal Governmental agencies that serve individuals with autism spectrum disorder such as the Department of Education; and

(E) the additional members appointed under paragraph (2).

(2) ADDITIONAL MEMBERS- Not fewer than 6 members of the Committee, or 1/3 of the total membership of the Committee, whichever is greater, shall be composed of non-Federal public members to be appointed by the Secretary, of which–

(A) at least one such member shall be an individual with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder;

(B) at least one such member shall be a parent or legal guardian of an individual with an autism spectrum disorder; and

(C) at least one such member shall be a representative of leading research, advocacy, and service organizations for individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

There is no mention that public members must all represent a substantial constituency at all.

My own opinion, for whatever that may be worth, is this. Public members on the IACC should

(a) represent the diverse viewpoints of the autism communities
(b) be willing to put in work on the committee
and
(c) be able to work as a part of a team on the committee.

Somehow, when groups like SafeMinds, Generation Rescue, the National Autism Association and the Autism Research Institute belittle IACC members with blog posts depicting them as “baby eaters“, I doubt whether they meet criteria in [c]. But, hey, that’s just my opinion. The opinion of someone who needs the IACC to work.

That said, is a constituency needed on a governmental committee? I would argue not. Perhaps the most well known public member of a US governmental committee was the late Prof. Richard Feynman. He served on the committee to find the cause of the destruction of the space shuttle Challenger. Prof. Feynman didn’t represent any constituency. He wasn’t a part of the space program. He was just a guy who got things done.

But, if we are going to talk about which big groups deserve to be on the IACC, we should recall that the IACC exists to manage a research plan. Groups that are involved in research should have a seat at the table.

You may recall that last year I discussed Autism research funding: who is paying and how much?. The IACC had put together a document on nationwide (public and private) research funding into autism. It turns out that the largest private group, in dollars, funding autism research is the Simons Foundation. They even outspend Autism Speaks, whom many would assume would be the largest autism organization. Heck, the Simons Foundation outspends the CDC.

Autism Funding by Agency

Another autism organization that doesn’t get heard much on the blogs is the Marks Foundation. Last year they committed $29M to start an autism center for all ages at Boston General Hospital.

It will be interesting to see who the new members are on the IACC. The world is made up of a lot more than just the vaccine-causation groups. Groups who are not as big as they would like us to think. The vaccine-causation groups are already well represented by Ms. Lyn Redwood. I’ve never heard anyone say that she doesn’t represent their ideas ably.

As noted above, there is one parent on the IACC who is not affiliated with any organization. I find this wholly appropriate and would not be surprised nor put off should the IACC appoint a second unaffiliated person–be they autistic or parent. Frankly, another autistic would seem appropriate. I thought Wolf Dunaway was very impressive when he served on a subcommittee.

Tomorrow morning new members will be welcomed. They have my gratitude for being willing to serve in what is an unnecessarily contentious position.

Just how big is the National Autism Association anyway?

29 Apr

The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) is meeting tomorrow. On the agenda is “Welcome and Introductions of IACC Members”.

It is no secret that many groups have wanted a seat at the IACC table. Autism Speaks was previously represented by Alison Singer, but she left Autism Speaks to form her own organization, the Autism Science Foundation. The vaccine-causation groups have been very interested in increasing their presence on the IACC. Currently, they are represented by Lyn Redwood of SafeMinds. But, Generation Rescue and the National Autism Association and, I assume, TACA would like to have membership on the Committee.

In a recent blog piece discussing the IACC, Katie Wright, board member for the National Autism Association and Generation Rescue, pointed out the broad membership base of the NAA and TACA. Further, she stresses the importance of a “significant public constituency”

The National Autism Association, representing 12,000 dues paying parents and TACA representing 17,000 parents implored Dr. Collins to assign these organizations seats on IACC. Of the 19 members on the committee, only 3, Lyn Redwood, Lee Grossman and Stephen Shore represent a significant public constituency.

To me, the message seemed clear. The NAA or TACA should be on the IACC because they are so big. They represent such a large base of support.

I’ve been reading about how these groups represent “thousands” or “tens of thousands” of families for some time. The statements are always unsupported, so I tend to give them little weight. But when I read the above statemen, I spotted the phrase “dues paying”. To me, that reads as “a fact I can check”.

So I pulled the 990 forms for the NAA. 990 forms are the tax forms that charitable organizations file in the US, and they are made public, albeit after a couple of years.

The 2008 form 990 shows under “membership dues” that the NAA took in $17,640.

Membership dues to the NAA is $35/year for an individual, $60 for a family. This was the same in 2008.

Taking the $35 value, that gives a membership for the NAA of 504 (an upper bound estimate). Very respectable. Not 12,000, though. Perhaps they’ve had a major membership boom since 2008. Perhaps I misunderstood something. But, this fact check would suggest that the 12,000 claim for the NAA’s membership is, perhaps, somewhat high.

Maybe 2008 was a bad year for the NAA? Checking the other Form 990’s for the NAA gives the following amounts for dues collected:

2006: $14,950
2007: $22,592
2008: $17,640

Hmmm. Looks like they may have peaked in 2007.

Perhaps there are a number of dues paying members in the NAA chapter. Guidestar shows a number of these NAA chapters. The few I checked (like the Northeast Ohio chapter) report no dues.

I’m open to being corrected, with proof. But, for now, it looks to this observer that the National Autism Association membership is much less than the 12,000 claimed.

Whether the size is important, that is a discussion for another post.

Let’s Talk Autism – next live Prime Ministerial Debate

26 Apr

I just received this message from Carole Rutherford at Autism in Mind and ask all UK readers to join us in trying to get autism discussed at the final televised debate between the party leaders.

The final Prime Ministerial debate takes place on Thursday night. The final debate is about the economy. It is estimated that there are at least half a million children and adults who have a diagnosis of autism. There are many more who have the condition without the diagnosis. There could be as many as 6 million families in the UK alone who are living with autism.

Autism-In-Mind and Asperger Syndrome Action by Parents want the leaders to talk about autism on Thursday night and we need your help now. We want you to submit the following question onto the BBC ‘Election Question’ form. The question is wrapped around the economy and how the money that is being spent on autism every year is being spent. It is important that we all ask the same question. We want 1000,s of people to ask this question by Thursday Night and if we can achieve this then maybe someone will listen to us and will talk about autism.

Question to submit to the BBC

A recent study by researchers at King’s College London estimated that autism costs the UK economy around £28.2 billion per year, and yet thousands of autistic/Asperger syndrome children and adults do not meet the criteria for any provision or services. Autism/Asperger syndrome requires services from the cradle to the grave. The only money attached to the newly published Autism Strategy will be half a million pounds for increasing awareness and understanding of autism among frontline professionals with nothing for service provision.

In the first debate there seemed to be recognition from all three parties that there is a huge social care agenda to be addressed in the future, but will it include autistic/Asperger syndrome and disabled people and what guarantee can you give that it will include them? How are you going to make sure that EVERY autistic child and adult is not left until crisis point before they are given the provision that they need? Many of us would like to know how much of the £28.2 billion is being spent on crisis management.<?b>

Here is where you post the question – you do have to give your name and where you live. You do not have to add a telephone number if you do not want to. If you do want to add this number 07960875526 this phone will be deactivated after Thursday night.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8589502.stm

Here are some facts and figures produced about Autism last year by the National Audit Office – This might help you to understand how important it is for the Leaders to ‘Talk about Autism’ on Thursday night.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEKMsO9t0pU

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Kathleen Sebelius and Francis Collins to speak at next IACC meeting

21 Apr

The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) will hold its next meeting on Friday, April 30. I checked the agenda for this meeting and found that Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Francis Collins, Director of the NIH will be speaking.

The meeting will be videocast and available via telephone.

Here is the agenda for the next IACC meeting:

IACC Full Committee Meeting Agenda

Friday, April 30, 2010
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Eastern

The Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center
Rotunda Room
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20004

Time Event
9:00 a.m. Registration

10:00 Call to Order and Opening Remarks

Thomas Insel, M.D.
Director, National Institute of Mental Health and Chair, IACC
10:05 Kathleen Sebelius
Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services

10:20 Welcome and Introductions of IACC Members

10:55 Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, National Institutes of Health

11:10 Break

11:25 Research Update: Autism Treatment Network
Geraldine Dawson, M.D.
Chief Science Officer, Autism Speaks

11:50 Research Update: Autism in the DSM-V
Susan E. Swedo, M.D.
Senior Investigator, Behavioral Pediatrics Section
Pediatrics and Developmental Neurospsychiatry Branch, NIMH

12:15 Lunch

1:30 Public Comments

2:00 Research Update: Stem Cell Talk

James Battey, M.D.
Director, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

2:25 Research Update: NIH Nonverbal ASD Workshop
Helen Tager-Flusberg, Ph.D.
Director, Laboratory of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Boston University

Ann Wagner, Ph.D.
Chief, Neurobehavioral Mechanisms and Mental Disorders Branch, NIMH

2:50 Research Update: Building the Infrastructure for Comparative Effectiveness Research on Disability Issues
Rosaly Correa-de-Araujo, M.D., MSc, Ph.D.
Deputy Director, Office on Disability, Office of the Secretary

3:15 Approval of January 19, 2010 IACC Committee Minutes

3:20 Update: Planning Subcommittee
Thomas Insel, M.D.
Director, National Institute of Mental Health and Chair, IACC

3:50 Break

4:00 OARC Update

* 2009 Summary of Advances
* IMFAR Update

4:20 Public Comments Discussion Period
4:50 Closing Comments
5:00 Adjournment

IACC conference call on the Strategic Plan

8 Apr

I just received this announcement from the IACC:

A Conference Call and Webinar of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) Subcommittee for Planning the Annual Strategic Plan Updating Process

Please join us for a conference call and webinar of the IACC Subcommittee for Planning the Annual Strategic Plan Updating Process that will take place on Monday, April 19, 2009 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. ET.

No registration is required

Conference Call Access
USA/Canada Phone Number: 888-577-8995
Access code: 1991506

Webinar Access https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/455522202

The agenda for this conference call is to discuss plans for updating the 2010 IACC Strategic Plan for Autism Spectrum Disorder Research.

Please visit the IACC Events page for the latest information about the conference call, including access information, as well as all other IACC events.

For more information about the IACC, please visit www.iacc.hhs.gov.

Now follow the IACC on Twitter (www.twitter.com/IACC_Autism).

The Contact Person for this conference call is:
Ms. Lina Perez
Office of Autism Research Coordination
National Institute of Mental Health, NIH
6001 Executive Boulevard, NSC
Room 8185a
Rockville, MD 20852
Phone: 301-443-6040
IACCpublicinquiries@mail.nih.gov
Please Note: This conference call may end before 12:00 PM if the discussion is completed ahead of schedule.

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