Department of Psychiatry recruiting families for autism study

The Michigan Medicine Department of Psychiatry is recruiting families with a child or children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) for a long-term national study.

The study hopes to speed up research and insight into the disorder. Their project, known as SPARK (the acronym stands for Simons Foundation Powering Autism Research for Knowledge), is looking at 50,000 families across 27 clinical sites nationwide over several years.

Costanza Colombi, Ph.D., research assistant professor of psychiatry, is leading the study in Michigan.

“We are looking at DNA from people with autism and from their family members who may or may not have autism,” Colombi said. “This DNA will help us shed light into the genetics of autism and hopefully improve patient care. We will also use information collected to study overall health, behavior and lifestyle.”

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