ASF Announces Recipients of 2025 Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowships

NEW YORK — April 2, 2025 — The Autism Science Foundation (ASF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting families facing autism and funding innovative autism research, today announced the recipients of its annual undergraduate summer research fellowships. Grants have been awarded to a diverse group of talented undergraduates who will embark on cutting-edge research projects aimed at improving the lives of individuals with autism.

This year’s cohort of fellows will investigate critical topics, including sleep disturbance in autism, access to services for underrepresented ethnic groups, early biomarkers of profound autism, the impact of racial and ethnic matching in autism intervention, genetic variants associated with autism in non-European populations, and how auditory responses might indicate early signs of anxiety in children with autism.

“ASF was founded to ensure science improves the lives of individuals with autism, and now more than ever, that mission is critical,” said ASF President Alison Singer. “Despite the challenges posed by dangerous misinformation regarding the causes of autism and shifting federal funding priorities, our dedication to advancing legitimate research and supporting the best young minds in the field remains steadfast. By investing in these bright, innovative students, we’re fueling the next generation of autism research.”

“This is a pivotal moment for early-career researchers,” said Alycia Halladay, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer at ASF. “This is especially true in areas where federal funding has been reduced, such as fostering a diverse scientific community and addressing the needs of underserved populations in autism research. These grants provide important opportunities for emerging researchers to gain specialized training in autism, with a particular focus on individuals with profound autism, a group that has long been overlooked in research.”

Now in its 12th consecutive year, the ASF undergraduate summer fellowship program has earned praise for its commitment to supporting young researchers. In 2018, Inside Philanthropy highlighted ASF’s unique focus on undergraduates, noting that funding students at this stage “is not something we see very often. In fact, we almost never see it. A key to achieving medical breakthroughs is engaging and retaining young investigators early in their careers.”

The following projects have been awarded funding for the 2025 summer fellowship program:

Faith Chen
Mentor: Sofia Lizarraga, Ph.D.
Brown University
Sex-Specific Differences in Profound Autism Associated with ASH1L Pathogenic Variants

Profound autism affects 27% of the population diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders, but we know little about the underlying biology of profound autism. Patients with mutations in the chromatin regulator ASH1L present with a form of profound autism associated with variable degrees of intellectual disability and seizures. ASH1L promotes an open chromatin state and results in gene transcription in proper brain development. Clinical studies in a cohort of individuals presenting with ASH1L pathogenic variants suggest there are sex-specific differences in the clinical presentations. However, biological research around the sex-specific contributions of ASH1L to profound autism is lacking. This student will investigate how ASH1L variants influence the expression of genes that have high-risk variants associated with profound autism on the X chromosome.

Anila Russell-Hall
Mentor: Melanie Pellecchia, Ph.D., B.C.B.A.
University of Pennsylvania
The Impact of Racial and Ethnic Matching on Providers’ Use of Caregiver Coaching for Families with Autistic Children

In education and primary care, research suggests that race-ethnicity matching between practitioners and individuals, in which providers work with families from similar racial and ethnic backgrounds, results in improved satisfaction and outcomes. However, this issue has not been studied in autism intervention. This student will examine data from a randomized trial of 400 caregiver-clinician pairs to examine how racial-ethnic matching impacts providers’ use of caregiver coaching in an evidence-based autism intervention. The findings will help inform culturally responsive practices to best support autistic children from marginalized backgrounds.

Karina Sheth
Mentor: Abigail Hogan, Ph.D.
University of South Carolina
A Longitudinal Study of the Auditory Startle Reflex in Autistic Children

Although anxiety is a prevalent and debilitating co-occurring condition for autistic children, little is understood about early indicators of anxiety in this population. Non-autistic individuals with anxiety tend to exhibit an exaggerated auditory startle reflex, suggesting a hyper-responsive fear response system. In autistic children, however, the auditory startle reflex and its association with anxiety is poorly understood. Through analysis of existing longitudinal data, this student will investigate (a) the behavioral and physiological indicators of the auditory startle reflex, (b) how the auditory startle reflex changes across childhood, and (c) the relationship between the auditory startle reflex and anxiety. By improving understanding of the auditory startle reflex in autistic children, this research may inform efforts at early identification of anxiety risk and facilitate the development of targeted early interventions that would enhance functional outcomes for autistic individuals across the lifespan.

Darren Shiao
Mentor: Antonio Y. Hardan, M.D.
Stanford University
Examining the Value of Benadryl for Improving Sleep in Autistic Youth

Disrupted sleep affects 60% of autistic children, impacting mood and cognition. This student will use EEG and machine learning to identify sleep biomarkers in autistic youth and assess diphenhydramine’s (Benadryl) effects on sleep architecture. The student will collect resting-state EEG data and analyze activity linked to sleep disturbances. Diphenhydramine, an H1 antagonist, modestly improves sleep onset and duration but remains unstudied in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This research aims to establish EEG biomarkers, evaluate pharmacological effects, and improve personalized sleep interventions for autistic individuals while reducing reliance on overnight sleep studies.

ASF Canada Undergraduate Summer Fellowship

Liam Wallich
Mentor: Stephen W. Scherer, Ph.D.
Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
Investigating ASD-Associated Rare Genetic Variants in Non-European Ancestries

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has a strong genetic basis, with high heritability. Most genetic studies have focused on individuals of European ancestry, creating bias that limits ASD-associated genetic variant identification and characterization within non-European populations. This student will investigate rare variants associated with ASD in underrepresented groups using whole-genome sequencing and exome sequencing data in those with non-European backgrounds. The aim of this project is to understand similarities and differences in ASD between populations and identify ancestry-specific candidate rare variants associated with ASD.

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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