TCD researchers lead €12 million Global Autism Genome Project
Posted on: 19 February 2007
Trinity College researchers – Professor Michael Gill and Dr Louise Gallagher of TCD’s Department of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine – will lead a €12 million Global Autism Genome Project, of which €5 million has been received from the Health Research Board (HRB), as well as an additional €7 million from a variety of international organisations. Trinity’s Professor Michael Gill is the principal investigators of the global research project and he is joined by co-investigators, TCD’s Dr Louise Gallagher as well as UCD’s Professor Andrew Green and Dr Sean Ennis of the UCD School of Medicine and Medical Science.
The Irish researchers will participate in a leading international consortium* that aims to find the gene responsible for causing autism. The research that aims to identify genes contributing to the risk for autism in a large sample of individuals and families with autism which have been recruited in Ireland and around the world. The aim is to find a link between clinical and genetic information in patients and come to a better understanding of the factors contributing to autism. This will be crucial to the development of diagnostics, targeted treatment and intervention.
The research will be carried out by the Irish Autism Genetics Collaboration, a partnership between researchers in Trinity College Dublin (TCD), University College Dublin (UCD) and their associated hospitals (Tallaght Hospital [AMiNCH], the National Centre for Medical Genetics and the Health Service Executive). Dr Louise Gallagher and Professor Michael Gill from the School of Medicine at TCD, along with Professor Andrew Green and Dr Sean Ennis from UCD School of Medicine and Medical Science will have a lead role in the project.
According to Professor Michael Gill: “This is an exciting opportunity for Irish researchers to play a key role in such a prestigious international project. Our involvement in this kind of a global initiative is recognition of the skills and dedication of Irish research teams focused on autism in both Trinity College and University College Dublin.”
Building on previous success, the international coalition of researchers will apply state-of-art ‘gene-chip’ technologies to scan the genome for association with new genetic markers, as well as sub-microscopic copy number variations (CNVs) along chromosomes in autism. These findings will guide high-throughput DNA sequencing experiments designed to pinpoint underlying changes in DNA sequences in autism susceptibility genes. The unprecedented statistical power generated by the AGP will ultimately allow researchers to confirm the role of these genes, in autism spectrum disorders.
“Working in partnership with other organisations and sharing research information is a progressive approach that we hope will yield results. The HRB believe that co-operation between such an eminent group of researchers, philanthropists, funding agencies and the participating families, will increase our understanding of the gene involved in autism and we hope that the discoveries made will lead to effective targeted interventions,” said Dr Ruth Barrington, Chief Executive at the HRB.
* The other co-funders in the international consortium include Autism Speaks (US), the British Medical Research Council (MRC), Genome Canada and partners, Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center (SARRC), and the Hilibrand Foundation. This unique combination of international, public and private partners funding a consortium of clinicians and scientists is a new and welcome departure in the field of autism research.
Notes for editor
About Autism
Autism is a complex brain disorder that inhibits a person’s ability to communicate and develop social relationships, and is often accompanied by extreme behavioural challenges. Autism Spectrum Disorders are diagnosed in one in 166 children in the United States, affecting four times as many boys as girls. The diagnosis of autism has increased tenfold in the last decade. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention have called autism a national public health crisis whose cause and cure remain unknown.
About the HRB
The Health Research Board is the lead agency in Ireland supporting and funding health research. Our aim is to improve people’s health through research. With an annual budget of approximately €40 million from the Department of Health and Children and current commitments worth over €100 million, we support a broad range of health research in Ireland that we hope will improve links between the laboratory and the delivery of patient care – we literally want to bring research and development to life.
Our funding is therefore focused on building up people’s research capability, providing relevant equipment and infrastructure and supporting research programmes in a wide variety of areas. Our research programmes range from tackling cancer or heart disease to examining the impact of socio-economic factors on people’s health and from creating an electronic patient record to improve care for people with a chronic disease to identifying genes that are common among people with a particular disease.