New understanding of causes of autism sparks research initiative

SPARK — a research initiative intended to comprehensively study individuals with autism — launched on Thursday.

SPARK intends to collect DNA from 50,000 individuals and their families over the next three years in order to analyze genetic material and create better methods of treatment. UNC has served as a pilot site for the research since December.

“We’ll also take information about these individuals, like symptoms, treatment history, and we’ll make this information available for gene discovery studies and (to) develop new treatments for autism,” said Gabriel Dichter, a lead researcher for the UNC site.

SPARK, funded by the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative, is the largest autism genetic study ever conducted in this country. There are 21 sites including the site at UNC.

Dichter said there are aspects of the initiative that make it unique.

“Participation can be completely online,” Dichter said. “Participants sign up and enter their information, and Simons will send a kit with instructions. So even for folks who don’t live near a big medical center, it is still easy for them to participate.”

SPARK will add the provided genetic information to the research which will help the initiative gain a better understanding of which genes cause autism.

“We think the future of treatment will be personalized and individualized,” Dichter said. “This manifests through an understanding of each individual profile.”

Joe Piven, a principle investigator at the UNC site, said SPARK is important because it looks at multiple potential causes for autism.

“Considering all autistic individuals as having the same cause for their autism creates an intractable problem for treatment,” Piven said. “As we now know, there are multiple pathways for the development of autism.”

Piven and Dichter submitted a grant to participate in SPARK last year and UNC was selected to be one of three pilot sites out of the 21 total initiative sites.

“UNC has become a leader in autism research,” said Terry Magnuson, vice dean for research at the UNC School of Medicine, in an email. “The fact that the Simons Foundation chose UNC as one of SPARK’s initiative institutions is indicative (of) our across-the-board strength in the field, including clinical research, treatment and basic science.”

The University is able to provide SPARK with unique opportunities, Dichter said.

“A unique resource at UNC is we have an autism registry of over 600 families,” Dichter said. “We can work with these families so they can work with SPARK.”

Dichter said the initiative at the University has a number of community partners such as the Autism Society of North Carolina.

“We work with care providers and a number of undergraduates — who maybe have siblings with autism — who are volunteering,” Dichter said. “It’s very grassroots, one family at a time, and then broader from there. Today forward we’re part of this larger group.”

The feedback they’ve received from families so far has been largely positive, Dichter said.

“There’s a lot of excitement and enthusiasm, but a lot of work ahead.”

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