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6d ago

NIH Awards $50 Million to 13 Autism Studies Focused on Genes and Environment

Researchers praise the competitive awards for prioritizing rigorous, data‑driven work.

U.S. President Donald Trump, with Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Mehmet Oz, U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jay Bhattacharya, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary, and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., makes an announcement linking autism to childhood vaccines and to the use of popular pain medication Tylenol for pregnant women and children, claims which are not backed by decades of science, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 22, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
United States National Institutes of Health logo and U.S. flag are seen in this illustration taken April 23, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
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Overview

  • The new grants back 13 teams announced this week to investigate autism across cell biology, epidemiology, genetics and gene–environment interactions.
  • Six projects will integrate genomic data with environmental exposures, while others examine prevalence drivers, access to services, data science models, and interactions between diet and chemical exposures.
  • NIH said more than 250 teams applied after a rapid call for proposals, and Nature reports that none of the funded projects focuses explicitly on vaccines.
  • Awardees highlight built‑in replication plans and a faster three‑year timetable than typical five‑year grants, with HHS stating the effort is science‑driven.
  • The initiative contrasts with separate HHS efforts, including a vaccine safety review led by David Geier and a CDC contract with RPI on vaccine–autism associations, a link prior rigorous studies have not supported.