Identifying what factors create risks for autism, as well as protect against autism, is one of the most important goals in the field of autism research. The Thompson Center is helping to advance this goal through its participation in the national Study to Explore Early Development (SEED) project.
Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this national study seeks to gather a wide sample of data from children and families across the country, including families with children with autism, typically developing children, and children with other developmental disabilities.
“One of the biggest challenges in the autism research field is being able to understand what factors, such as genetics and environmental changes, make children more at risk for developing autism,” said Dr. Stephen Kanne, executive director of the Thompson Center. “If we can understand these factors, as well as what factors might protect against autism, we potentially can give parents strategies for helping to reduce autism risk for future children, as well as develop better treatments for people with autism.”
The Thompson Center joins the SEED project in its third phase. By forming a valuable partnership with researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and Children’s Mercy Kansas City, the three research groups have created MO SEED, the sixth SEED site in the U.S.
“Our partnership with Wash U and Children’s Mercy will allow us to recruit participants from 22 counties in Missouri, further contributing to SEED’s rich, diverse data set,” said Kanne, who is the primary investigator for the Thompson Center site of MO SEED. “Further, it will help us continue to build strong relationships with leading autism experts on both sides of the state, setting the stage for future research collaborations.”
The participation process for SEED includes a phone interview, written questionnaires, and for some families, a developmental assessment. This assessment will include play-based tests for the child, questions for the parents, a brief physical examination to collect information such as height and head size, and saliva collection and a blood draw from the parents and child.
The MO SEED group will begin its recruiting process this fall, and that process will run through 2020. MO SEED hopes to recruit more than 350 participants from 22 counties in Missouri during this project. For more information about MO SEED, visit: mo-seed.org.