In 2017, the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, a federal advisory panel consisting of autism researchers and community members, recommended that funders of autism research prioritize research projects on: (1) treatments/interventions, (2) evidence-based services, and (3) lifespan issues. We sought to describe research funding since this recommendation was made. We searched the databases of the three largest federal funders of autism research in the United States (National Institutes of Health, Department of Education, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) for grants awarded during 2017–2019. We categorized grants as follows: autism screening and diagnosis, biology, risk factors, treatments and interventions, services, lifespan issues, or infrastructure and surveillance. We found that funding patterns remained largely consistent during 2017–2019. Biological research received a relative majority of funding (32.59%), followed by treatments and interventions (22.87%). While given higher funding priority by the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee’s recent budget recommendation, fewer funds were awarded to research areas like services (5.02%) and lifespan issues (2.51%), indicating a misalignment between funding patterns and the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee budget recommendation. These findings emphasize the need for autism research funding to align with the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee budget recommendations to best meet the needs of the autism community, particularly autistic younger, middle-aged, and older adults.

Lay abstract

In 2017, an advisory board consisting of autism researchers and community members recommended that funders of autism research prioritize research projects on: (1) treatments/interventions, (2) evidence-based services, and (3) lifespan issues. To describe funding in these areas since this recommendation was made, we searched the databases of the three largest federal funders of autism research in the United States. We found that the largest portion of federal funding during 2017–2019 was awarded to research on the biology of autism (32.59%) and treatments and interventions for autism (22.87%). Less funds were awarded to research areas that are high funding priorities by the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee budget recommendation including services (5.02%) and lifespan issues (2.51%). Our findings emphasize that autism research funding is not consistent with the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee budget recommendation to increase funding particularly to services and lifespan issues. We recommend that funding patterns should shift to better align with these priorities so that autism research may better serve the needs of the autism community.

中文翻译：

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简短报告：2017-2019 年美国联邦自闭症研究资助模式

2017 年，由自闭症研究人员和社区成员组成的联邦咨询小组跨机构自闭症协调委员会建议自闭症研究的资助者优先考虑以下研究项目：(1) 治疗/干预，(2) 循证服务，以及 (3) ) 寿命问题。自提出此建议以来，我们试图描述研究资金。我们在美国三个最大的自闭症研究联邦资助者（美国国立卫生研究院、教育部和疾病控制与预防中心）的数据库中搜索了 2017-2019 年期间授予的赠款。我们将赠款分类如下：自闭症筛查和诊断、生物学、风险因素、治疗和干预、服务、寿命问题或基础设施和监测。我们发现，2017-2019 年期间，资金模式基本保持一致。生物研究获得了相对大部分的资金（32.59%），其次是治疗和干预（22.87%）。虽然机构间自闭症协调委员会最近的预算建议给予了更高的资金优先权，但用于服务 (5.02%) 和寿命问题 (2.51%) 等研究领域的资金较少，表明资金模式与机构间自闭症协调委员会预算建议之间存在偏差. 这些发现强调了自闭症研究资金的必要性，以符合机构间自闭症协调委员会的预算建议，以最好地满足自闭症社区的需求，尤其是自闭症年轻人、中年人和老年人。生物研究获得了相对大部分的资金（32.59%），其次是治疗和干预（22.87%）。虽然机构间自闭症协调委员会最近的预算建议给予了更高的资金优先权，但用于服务 (5.02%) 和寿命问题 (2.51%) 等研究领域的资金较少，表明资金模式与机构间自闭症协调委员会预算建议之间存在偏差. 这些发现强调了自闭症研究资金的必要性，以符合机构间自闭症协调委员会的预算建议，以最好地满足自闭症社区的需求，尤其是自闭症年轻人、中年人和老年人。生物研究获得了相对大部分的资金（32.59%），其次是治疗和干预（22.87%）。虽然机构间自闭症协调委员会最近的预算建议给予了更高的资金优先权，但用于服务 (5.02%) 和寿命问题 (2.51%) 等研究领域的资金较少，表明资金模式与机构间自闭症协调委员会预算建议之间存在偏差. 这些发现强调了自闭症研究资金的必要性，以符合机构间自闭症协调委员会的预算建议，以最好地满足自闭症社区的需求，尤其是自闭症年轻人、中年人和老年人。虽然机构间自闭症协调委员会最近的预算建议给予了更高的资金优先权，但用于服务 (5.02%) 和寿命问题 (2.51%) 等研究领域的资金较少，表明资金模式与机构间自闭症协调委员会预算建议之间存在偏差. 这些发现强调了自闭症研究资金的必要性，以符合机构间自闭症协调委员会的预算建议，以最好地满足自闭症社区的需求，尤其是自闭症年轻人、中年人和老年人。虽然机构间自闭症协调委员会最近的预算建议给予了更高的资金优先权，但用于服务 (5.02%) 和寿命问题 (2.51%) 等研究领域的资金较少，表明资金模式与机构间自闭症协调委员会预算建议之间存在偏差. 这些发现强调了自闭症研究资金的必要性，以符合机构间自闭症协调委员会的预算建议，以最好地满足自闭症社区的需求，尤其是自闭症年轻人、中年人和老年人。

摘要

2017 年，一个由自闭症研究人员和社区成员组成的咨询委员会建议自闭症研究的资助者优先考虑以下方面的研究项目：(1) 治疗/干预，(2) 循证服务，以及 (3) 寿命问题。为了描述自提出此建议以来这些领域的资助情况，我们搜索了美国三大自闭症研究联邦资助者的数据库。我们发现，2017-2019 年联邦资金的最大部分用于自闭症生物学研究（32.59%）以及自闭症治疗和干预（22.87%）。机构间自闭症协调委员会的预算建议，包括服务 (5.02%) 和寿命问题 (2.51%) 在内的高优先资助研究领域获得的资金较少。我们的研究结果强调，自闭症研究资金与机构间自闭症协调委员会预算建议不一致，建议增加资金，特别是针对服务和寿命问题的资金。我们建议资金模式应该转变为更好地与这些优先事项保持一致，以便自闭症研究可以更好地满足自闭症社区的需求。