The Big Picture
The Autism Science Foundation has provided more than $5 million in direct grants to scientists with cutting-edge ideas that have made a true difference in improving the lives of people with autism. We are proud to share the research and results that were developed with that funding.
Measuring Our Influence
Measuring our own impact is critical to our ongoing efforts. Each year, ASF reviews the progress of all grantees to ensure that funds are being spent properly and are leading to valuable results.
When we followed our past grantees to five years post-award, we found that 86% of them stayed in the field of ASD, whereas only 30% of those who applied and were not funded by ASF continued on in ASD. This indicates that ASF funding helps launch a multi-year commitment to families affected by ASD. You can learn more about ASF’s influence here.
View our 2026 findings below and scroll to the bottom of the page to view findings from previous years.
What are the causes of autism?
Kornfeld-Sylla SS, Gelegen C, Norris JE, Chaloner FA, Lee M, Khela M, Heinrich MJ, Finnie PSB, Ethridge LE, Erickson CA, Schmitt LM, Cooke SM, Wilkinson CL, Bear MF.
PubMed ID: 41663425
ASF supported this research through a Post-doctoral Training Award to Carol Wilkinson.
Bradley CA, Ko SY, Tian M, Ralph LT, D’Abate L, Lee J, Liu T, Wang J, Tidball P, Mendes M, Fan X, Howe JL, Alexandrova R, Pellecchia G, Casallo G, Paton T, Wybenga-Groot LE, Engchuan W, Thiruvahindrapuram B, Trost B, de Rijke J, Kadia A, Jin F, Salazar NB, Diaz-Meja JJ, MacDonald JR, Deneault E, Ross JP, Ellis J, Shum C, Georgiou J, Rennie O, Reuter MS, Hoang N, Sarikaya E, Selvanayagam T, Amini AE, Rutherford A, Rivera-Alfaro N, Marshall CR, Scala M, Runke CK, Kearney HM, Christodoulou J, Francis DI, Chung BHY, Pluciniczak J, Iaboni A, Wigby KM, Nordahl CW, Amaral DG, Hudson ML, Sjaarda CP, Guerin A, Elsabbagh M, Landa R, Mital S, Lesurf R, Jain A, Wilson MD, Ellegood J, Lurch JP, Lee LJ, Frey BJ, Salter MW, Vorstman JAS, Anagnostou E, Frankland PW, Collingridge GL, Scherer SW.
PubMed ID: 42129557
ASF supported this research through a ASF Canada Pre-doctoral fellowship to Stephen Pastore and an Undergraduate Summer Research Award to Liam Wallich
Ismail H, Abdalla SM, Carman ZT, Sherif M, Lundstrom BN, Eltokhi A
PubMed ID: 41724236
ASF supported this research through a Profound Autism Pilot Grant to Ahmed Eltokhi
Mendes M, Xu CY, Engchuan W, Trost B, Zhou X, Miwa BA, Salazar NB, Iglar J, Thiruvahindrapuram B, Wallich L, de Paiva TH, Tarazona-Santos E, Fernandez B, Borda V, Scherer SW.
PubMed ID: 42728387
ASF supported this research through an Undergraduate Summer Research Award to Liam Wallich.
Eltokhi A, Elhanafy E, Li J, El-Din TMG
PubMed ID: 42416924
ASF supported this research through a Profound Autism Pilot Grant to Ahmed Eltokhi
Jamadagni P, Dai Y, Liu Y, Mendes HW, Pruitt A, Khan S, Yang L, Huang T, Huang X, Deans PJM, Balafkan N, Zhao D, Xu G, Liu Y, Li N, Wu W, Fitzpatrick SE, Neelakantan U, Chen T, Szialta C, Jin DS, Lacadie CM, Umlauf S, Papdemetris X, Surovtseva YV, Brennand KH, Wang Z, Hoffman EJ
PubMed ID: 41838920
ASF supported this research through a Pre-doctoral Training Award to April Pruitt
Kim H, Xu C, Washington C, Shi C, Lowman M, Kebschull JM
PubMed ID: 42242218
ASF supported this research through a Post-doctoral Training Award to Hyopil Kim
Guo J, Sarafinovska S, Hagenson RA, Valentine MC, Chen DY, McCoy WH, Dougherty JD, Mitra RD, Muegge BD
PubMed ID: 42350392
ASF supported this research through a Pre-doctoral Training Award to Simona Sarafinovska
Garcia MF, Retallick-Townsley K, Pruitt A, Davidson EA, Balafkan N, Warrell J, Huang T, Kibowen A, Chu Z, Dai Y, Fitzpatrick SE, Meng R, Sen A, Chen S, Livoti O, Khan S, Becker C, Silva ALT, Liu J, Dossou G, Cheung J, Liu S, Ghorbani S, Deans PJM, DeCiucis M, Emani P, Gao H, Shen H, Gerstein M, Wang Z, Huckins LM, Hoffman EJ, Brennand K
PubMed ID: 42032432
ASF supported this research through a Pre-doctoral Training Award to April Pruitt
What are the biological differences in people with autism?
Ren X, Sirois CL, Doudlah R, Dayley EE, Mendez-Albelo NM, Hai A, Rosenberg A, Zhao X
PubMed ID: 41932338
ASF supported this research through a Post-doctoral Training Award to Carissa Siriois
Gordon A, Yoon SJ, Bicks LK, Martin JM, Pintacuda G, Arteaga S, Wamsley B, Guo Q, Elahi L, Dolmetsch RE, Bernstein JA, O’Hara R, Hallmayer JF, Lage K, Pasca SP, Geschwind DH
PubMed ID: 41611887
ASF supported this research through a Post-doctoral Training Award to Aaron Gordon
Zhang Y, Rutsohn J, Kim SH, Pandey J, Schultz RT, Zwaigenbaum L, Burrows C, Dager SR, St. John T, Estes AM, McKinstry RC, Marrus N, Pruett JR, Styner M, Hazlett HC, Piven J, Shen MD, Garic D
PubMed ID: 41540340
ASF supported this research through an Undergraduate Summer Research Award to Yichi Zhang
Hawkins B, Montgomery M, Bokota G, Santoyo M, Giron E, Eltokhi A
PubMed ID: 41277234
ASF supported this research through a Profound Autism Pilot Grant to Ahmed Eltokhi
Sarafinovska S, Venkatesan A, Akinwe TM, Chamessian A, Recio P, Chen X, Payne M, Creed MC, Mitra RD, Dougherty JD
DOI: 10.1523/ENEURO.0411-25.2026
ASF supported this research through a Pre-doctoral Training Award to Simona Sarafinovska
Kim K, Singla R, Chaware A, Park J, Klockner I, Lerner J, Li K, Shen F, Dugo C, Reamey P, Begue A, Harfouche M, Mishra A, McPherson CA, Stein JL, Horstmeyer R
PubMed ID: 42743929
ASF supported this research through a Pre-doctoral Training Award to Rubal Singla
Méndez-Albel NM, Zhang Y, Sandoval SO, Guo Y, Gao Y, Peters LA, Sirois CL, Widicus AB, Yang P, Trygstad DN, Eckholm MT, Xu Z, Smith RV, Disher RM, Johnston CJ, Zhao X
PubMed ID: 42753731
ASF supported this research through a Post-doctoral Training Award to Carissa Sirois
Casteel C, Prajapati AP, Pitzer C, Sprengel R, Eltokhi A
PubMed ID: 42184860
ASF supported this research through a Profound Autism Pilot Grant to Ahmed Eltokhi
How can we help people with autism and co-occurring conditions?
Wilkinson E, Brewe AM, Hastings RP, Jahoda A, White SW, Bal VH
PubMed ID: 41853119
ASF supported this research through a Pre-doctoral Training Award to Ellen Wilkinson
Parvathaneni A, Burkland J, Strelnikov J, Reynolds M, Tychsen L
ASF supported this research through a Profound Autism Pilot Grant to Margaret Reynolds
Wong SC, Abdullahi SM, Vangala S, McDonald NM, Wilson RB
PubMed ID: 42487696
ASF supported this research through a Post-Undergraduate Fellowship Award to Sereen Wong
Qiao S, Wang SE, Kim K, Jo S, Jiang J
PubMed ID: 41882256
ASF supported this research through a Post-doctoral Training Award to Sheng-Nan Qiao
Boyle J, Dakopolos A, Surgent O, Lee JK, Andrews DK, Heath B, Smucny J, Solomon M, Rogers SJ, Nordahl CW
PubMed ID: 42557937
ASF supported this research through a Profound Autism Pre-doctoral Fellowship Award to Joseph Boyle
How can we help people with profound autism?
Wilkinson E, Pai K, Jahoda A, Hastings RP, Bal VH
PubMed ID: 42808220
ASF supported this research through a Pre-doctoral Training Award to Ellen Wilkinson
Siegel M, Lord CL, Tager-Flusberg H, Ursitti J, Halladay A, Singer AT
PubMed ID: 42380932
ASF President Alison Singer and ASF Chief Science Officer Alycia Halladay co-authored this publication
Wilkinson E, Pai K, Hastings R, Jahoda A, Bal VH
PubMed ID: 42584863
ASF supported this research through a Pre-doctoral Training Award to Ellen Wilkinson
Clarke EB, Lord C, Bal VH
PubMed ID: 41603207
ASF supported this research through a Post-doctoral Training Award to Elaine Clarke
Kaplan-Kahn EA, Beneke RM, Holmes LG, Miller JS
PubMed ID: 41355243
ASF supported this research through a Suzanne Wright Memorial Research Accelerator Award to Elizabeth Kaplan-Kahn
What supports do people with autism need into adulthood?
Clarke E, Singer H, Lord C
PubMed ID: 42745657
ASF supported this research through a Post-doctoral Training Award to Elaine Clarke
Wilkinson E, Yu YY, Bal VH, Clarke EB
PubMed ID: 41934557
ASF supported this research through a Pre-doctoral Training Award to Ellen Wilkinson and a Post-doctoral Training Award to Elaine Clarke
Clarke EB, Lord C, Bal VH
PubMed ID: 42226652
ASF supported this research through a Post-doctoral Training Award to Elaine Clarke
Ferraiolo J, Parenteau CI, Khaw J, Herbert G, Adams R, Taylor J, Bishop S, Zheng S
PubMed ID: 41706308
ASF supported this research through a Covid-19 Research Grant to Shuting Zheng
What supports are helpful for people with autism?
Root JR, Cox S, McConomy A, Wade T, Gilley D, Williams AN, Dennis D
DOI: 10.1177/15407969261457020
ASF supported this research through a Pivot Grant to Jenny Root
Vanegas SB, Magaña S
PubMed ID: 42404716
ASF supported this research through a Pivot Grant to Sandra Vanegas