OARacle Newsletter

OAR is delighted to announce five new research grants through the 2024 Applied Research Competition. These new grants total $288,930, bringing OAR’s all-time total research funding to $5.3 million since 2002.

OAR received 184 letters of intent and invited 65 applicants to submit full proposals. From the full proposal submissions, OAR’s reviewers selected 21 to move on to the final round. On October 18, OAR’s Scientific Council met to review the finalists’ proposals, ultimately recommending six proposals for funding to the Board of Directors. The Board unanimously approved those studies subject to final budget review.

Congratulations to the 2024 Applied Research Grant recipients! 

• Efficacy of a Depression and Suicidal Ideation Prevention Class for Autistic Adults
  Emily Rothman, Sc.D.
  Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 

• Exploring Autism-Friendly Campus Spaces: A Pilot Study at the University of Alberta*
  Heather Brown, Ph.D
  University of Alberta, Canada 

• Exploring Challenging Behavior, Trauma, and Caregiving Among Siblings of Autistic Individuals
  Meghan Burke, Ph.D, BCBA-D
  Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 

• The Impact of Adaptive Sensory Environments on Perioperative Care for Children with ASD
  Lisa Einhorn, M.D.
  Duke University Children’s Hospital, Durham, North Carolina 

• Into the Unknown: Autistic Females’ Mental Health Experiences During Perimenopause
  Clare Harrop, Ph.D.
  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina

*OAR thanks the Lisa Higgins Hussman Foundation for generously supporting Dr. Brown’s study.

In addition to funding five applied research grants, the Board of Directors approved funding for a new resource grant through the Applied Research Competition. The purpose of the project, “Improving Autism Assessment Experience for Transgender Adults: Testing the Acceptability of a Guide,” will be to design, test the acceptability of, and produce a practical guide to support transgender adults. OAR will assist with distributing the published guide. Congratulations to the resource grant recipient, Meredith Maroney, Ph.D., at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Summaries of each proposal will soon be available in  OAR’s research portal.

For more information on the newly funded projects or on OAR’s Applied Research Competition, contact OAR at 571-977-5391 or via email at research @researchautism.org.