NEUROLOGICAL DISEASE

Division of Research Principal Investigator: Lisa Croen, PhD
Primary Source of Funding: National Institutes of Health
Description: Using the largest population-based sample of twins with autism to date, will provide much needed additional data to address several important research questions on the etiology of autism and the role of both genetic and non-genetic risk factors.

Division of Research Principal Investigator: Lisa Croen, PhD
Primary Source of Funding: National Alliance for Autism Research
Description: To Analyze newborn blood specimens from a population-based sample of children with autism and control children to investigate the contribution of maternal infection and autoimmunity during pregnancy to autism risk.

Division of Research Principal Investigator: Lisa Croen, PhD
Primary Source of Funding: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/DHHS
Description: Create epidemiology Centers of Excellence to examine the incidence and prevalence of autism.

Division of Research Principal Investigator: Lisa Croen, PhD
Primary Source of Funding: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Description: This program project is designed to investigate a broad range of environmental factors contributing to the incidence and severity of childhood autism.

Division of Research Principal Investigator: Lisa Croen, PhD
Primary Source of Funding: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Description: This case-control study is the first large-scale epidemiological study to examine autism in relation to a broad array of environmental exposures and endogenous susceptibility factors.

Division of Research Principal Investigator: Lisa Croen, PhD
Primary Source of Funding: CDC Foundation
Description: Study the Environmental Exposures & Autism

Division of Research Principal Investigator: Lisa Croen, PhD
Primary Source of Funding: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences/NIH/DHHS
Description: This case-control study is the first large-scale epidemiological study examining autism in relation to a broad array of environmental exposures and endogenous susceptibility factors.

Division of Research Principal Investigator: Stephen K. Van Den Eeden, PhD
Primary Source of Funding: Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program
Description: The study objectives are focused on investigating selected mechanisms that may explain the inverse association that has been observed between smoking and PD.

Division of Research Principal Investigator: Stephen Van Den Eeden, PhD
Primary Source of Funding: National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences
Description: The goal of this research is to determine the relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors in the etiology of typical Parkinson’s disease (PD) using four unique populations, including the Parkinsonism Epidemiology in Kaiser, or PEAK, study population.

Division of Research Principal Investigator: Stephen K. Van Den Eeden, PhD
Primary Source of Funding: Pharmacia & Upjohn Company
Description: This study will assess predictors of quality of life, utilization and change in disease progression over time among an inception cohort of 496 men and women with Parkinson’s disease.

Division of Research Primary Investigator: Lisa Croen, PhD
Primary Source of Funding: National Institute of Mental Health/NIH/DHHS
Description: This case-control study will evaluate the association between the risk of autism and several biologic markers with the potential to impact neurodevelopment that can be measured in archived maternal sera specimens collected in early pregnancy and neonatal blood specimens collected at the first few days of life.

Division of Research Principal Investigator: Lisa Croen, PhD
Primary Source of Funding: Kaiser Foundation Research Institute
Description: This case-control study will characterize autism risk in relation to several pre-, peri-, and neonatal factors in a well-defined, insured population in the United States. Comprehensive electronic record linkage of several KPMCP automated databases will be performed to identify cases and controls and define perinatal characteristics, which will be validated by medical record review.

Division of Research Principal Investigator: Gerald N. Delorenze, PhD
Primary Source of Funding: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Description: Specific hypotheses to be addressed by this study are: 1) that risk of MS is increased among individuals infected with EBV, as determined by the presence of specific serum antibodies; 2) that among individuals who are seropositive for EBV infection, those with higher serum levels of antiviral capside antigen (VCA) and anti-Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen (EBNA) have an increased risk of MS; 3) that risk of MS is increased among individuals seropositive for Chlamydia pneumoniae (Cpn) infection, and positively associated with the serum concentration of anti-Cpn antibodies.

Division of Research Principal Investigator: Lisa Croen, PhD
Description: Evaluation of the Modified Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ): A Screener for Autism Spectrum Disorders

Division of Research Principal Investigator: Enid M. Hunkeler, MA
Primary Sources of Funding: Lilly Research Laboratories
Description: This study will assess the safety, tolerability and efficacy of tomoxetine when it is administered to children or adolescents for approximately two years.