Autism research team gets €5m boost

An Irish research team involved in a major international project studying autism will get €5m from the Government, it emerged today.

The Health Research Board (HRB) will provide €1m each year for five years to five Irish researchers who will be recruited soon.

The funding is being made available on behalf of the Department of Health and Children.

Autism is a complex neuro-developmental disorder, which sets in during early childhood and affects 1.68 people in every 1,000.

The HRB has joined forces with organisations in the United States and Canada to award research grants to identify specific genes or gene variants, which may make people more susceptible to autism.

The HRB has signed an agreement with the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center, Cure Autism Now and the National Alliance for Autism Research to conduct to the five-year €20m study.

“There is strong evidence from a number of studies on twins and families that genetic factors play a role in autism,” said Ruth Barrington, HRB chief executive.

“This study is vital because it will research the way in which autism is inherited, which is much more complicated,” she explained.

“We welcome the opportunity to cooperate with these leading international research organisations on this essential research,” concluded Dr Barrington.

Applications are now being sought from teams of researchers with an interest and expertise in this area.