ASF Announces Recipients of the 2025 Suzanne Wright Memorial Research Accelerator Grants
NEW YORK — April 2, 2025 — The Autism Science Foundation (ASF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding innovative autism research and supporting families facing autism, today announced two recipients of Suzanne Wright Memorial Research Accelerator Grants. These grants are designed to expand the scope, speed the progress, and increase the efficiency of active autism research grants.
The latest grantees are Dr. Karen Chenausky from Massachusetts General Hospital, who will investigate the connection between motor skills and speech in minimally verbal autistic children through remote assessment technology, and Drs. Enrique Miguel Rodriguez de los Santos and Michael Breen at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who are developing an innovative gene-editing technique to target mutations linked to autism.
“Accelerator Grants reflect ASF’s commitment to breaking barriers and advancing innovative research with a sense of urgency”, said ASF Chief Science Officer Dr. Alycia Halladay.
“These grants can make a huge impact by expanding existing studies to test new ideas or by enabling work to get done more quickly.”
ASF renamed its Accelerator Grants in 2022 to honor pioneering autism advocate Suzanne Wright. Suzanne, who died in 2016, co-founded Autism Speaks in 2005 after her grandson was diagnosed with autism. She raised millions of dollars to fund autism research and consistently reminded scientists that the autism community needed answers urgently.
The following projects were selected for 2025 funding:
Karen Chenausky, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Massachusetts General Hospital
Using Remote Assessment to Understand the Relationship between Motor Abilities and Speech in Minimally Verbal Autistic Children
The factors that disrupt the normal acquisition of functional speech in minimally verbal children with autism remain unknown. Dr. Chenausky is currently using a computer-based biomechanical assessment tool to identify oromotor impairments in autism and determine if the severity of oromotor deficits predicts communication development. ASF Accelerator funds will extend and enrich the project by adding technology to enable data to be collected remotely, increasing the ease with which profoundly autistic children can participate. Two-dimensional facial movement will be collected by remote video technology in the home environment while a minimally verbal child is attempting to repeat syllables. The goal is to understand the extent to which motor ability, measured by online facial movement, contributes to speech and language production. This study builds on our understanding of how the facial motor system influences speech production. By including children with very little speech (who have specific difficulties in participating in in-person research), this project aims to help determine the mechanisms of minimally verbal autism.
Enrique Miguel Rodriguez de los Santos, Ph.D., and Michael Breen, Ph.D.
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Targeting DEAF1 to Restore Genetic Function in Profound Autism
About 20% of autism is caused by known mutations in rare genes. Doctors Rodriguez de los Santos and Breen are studying a new method for repairing autism-causing gene mutations using a technology called Site-directed RNA Editing (SDRE). This approach may offer advantages over current gene-editing methods. The team’s current work has shown SDRE to be a promising preclinical therapeutic approach and has identified mutations, such as the DEAF1 gene, that are suitable for SDRE. ASF Accelerator funds will enable the team to test DEAF1 as a target for RNA editing using SDRE, paving the way for more personalized therapies and treatments for genetically determined autism.
About the Autism Science Foundation
The Autism Science Foundation (ASF) is a 501(c)(3) public charity that provides funding to scientists and organizations conducting autism research. ASF also provides information about autism to the general public and serves to increase awareness of autism spectrum disorders and the needs of individuals and families affected by autism. To learn more about the Autism Science Foundation or to make a donation, visit www.autismsciencefoundation.org.
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