Cross-Species Studies of ASD — Request for Applications

Grants awarded through the Cross-Species Studies of ASD RFA are intended to support multi-disciplinary teams of PIs with expertise in both human and animal research to perform coordinated cross-species studies to advance our understanding of ASD-relevant behaviors and their underlying neurobiological mechanisms, with the potential for developing novel biomarkers or interventions. The program supports research on ASD-relevant behaviors and their underlying neurobiological mechanisms conducted in parallel across human and non-human animals. Because the focus is on translation across species, in addition to being relevant to ASD, the behaviors under study need to be conserved across species and able to be measured objectively and quantitatively. Three domains SFARI recognizes as fitting these criteria include sensory function, motor function and sleep, although other behaviors are considered if there is a strong argument that they meet these criteria. Beyond measuring behaviors in parallel across species, special emphasis is placed on furthering our understanding of the underlying neurobiological mechanisms with an eye towards developing novel biomarkers or interventions.