Description:

The goals of the CCEH in the next five years are to: (1) better understand the mechanisms by which environmental, immunologic, and molecular factors interact to influence the risk and severity of autism; (2) identify early immunologic, environmental, and genomic markers of susceptibility to autism; (3) develop mouse models of immunologic susceptibility to environmental triggers and define the impact of these triggers on the development of complex behaviors, key brain structures and neurotransmitter receptors relevant to autism (4) translate our research findings into diagnostic tools that can be used in clinical practice to predict early autism risk; and (5) supply the community with accurate and timely information about autism risk factors.

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Since it is generally accepted that the earlier an intervention is begun in autistic children, the greater the chances of improvement, an intervention that can be implemented before symptoms have fully manifested should have the strongest impact in reducing severity and potentially even preventing some cases. Thus, early markers of risk are needed to identify children who are at risk. These may include behavioral, environmental, physiologic, biochemical, and genomic markers, and those based on morphological and neuroimaging parameters.

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