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Funded Grants

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Structural and functional networks in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Fragile X Syndrome

Project Overview

Many childhood disorders, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), are a result of abnormal growth and connections throughout the brain, rather than being caused by some specific pathology, such as a tumour. For meaningful diagnosis, prognosis and intervention for these devastating disorders to be able to occur, new techniques need to be developed that can detect these faulty “wiring” patterns early in life. For this project, Dr. Evans and his team are developing advanced techniques to identify such early alterations in brain networks and use them to investigate ASD and FXS. The project expertise in brain imaging and network analysis from Canada with a unique US population of infants at risk for developing ASD, i.e. infants having a sibling already diagnosed with ASD. The Infant Brain Imaging Study (IBIS) has already collected an extensive amount of data from 600+ at-risk infants but little analysis has yet been published due to funding constraints. The project builds upon previous work of the IBIS team to explore a range of techniques that measure how well the brain is “wired”. Canadian and U.S. IBIS scientists will work together on these issues. By studying at-risk infants as early as 3 months old, the team hopes to develop an early biomarker for the development of ASD or FXS. This work may also suggest a strategy for early intervention to reduce the impact of these disorders.

Principal Investigator

Alan Evans , Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University

Team Members

Lonnie Zwaigenbaum, University of Alberta

Louis Collins, McGill University

Pierre Bellec , Université de Montreal 

Mayada Elsabbagh, McGill University

Sherif Karama, McGill University

Joseph Piven, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 

Heather Cody Hazlett, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 

John Pruett, Washington University in St. Louis

Kelly Botteron, Washington University in St. Louis

Partners and Donors

Azrieli Foundation

National Bank of Canada

Project Ongoing

Structural and functional networks in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Fragile X Syndrome

  • Program Type

    Team grants

  • Area of research

    Neurodevelopment

  • Disease Area

    Autism

  • Competition

    Azrieli Neurodevelopment Research Program

  • Province

    Québec

  • Start Date

    2014

  • Total Grant Amount

    $2,492,735

  • Health Canada Contribution

    $1,246,368

Contact Us

1200 McGill College Avenue
Suite 1600, Montreal, Quebec
H3B 4G7

+1 (514) 989-2989 info@braincanada.ca

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