Grant Creates New Autism Research Center
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
A new Autism Center of Excellence is being created in Atlanta with a more than $8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The center is one of only three in the country and is a collaborative research effort among the Marcus Autism Center at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, the Department of Pediatrics in Emory University’s School of Medicine and the Yerkes National Primate Research Center.
Governor Nathan Deal says the center is a significant achievement.
“The pattern that is formed by the virtue of this grant is the continuation of the building of a great partnership that will make Georgia a national leader in this area of dealing with research and treatment for autism.”
The center’s research will focus on infants and toddlers. Experts say signs of autism are visible as young as 12 months of age and the disorder can be definitively diagnosed by 24 months. But researchers hope the center will allow them to identify autism within the first six months and develop new treatments. Dr. Ami Klin will serve as the center’s director.
“It’s right now a moment of promise, because we need to turn this into tangible and significant benefits for families and children with autism. When that happens we will have reached our mission.”
Currently, one out of every 84 children in Georgia is affected by autism and related disorders. Nationally, the ratio is one out of every 88 children.
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