BABY SIBLING RESEARCH CONSORTIUM (bsrc)

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Children with an older sibling with an autism diagnosis have a 1 in 5 chance of being diagnosed with autism themselves-- and better tracking of these “infant siblings” has led to breakthroughs in understanding the development of autism. Since 2017, ASF has supported the Baby Siblings Research Consortium, a collaboration of 50 researchers from around the world led in Canada by Dr. Lonnie Zwaigenbaum, Dr. Jessica Brian and Dr. Susan Bryson. The BSRC has created a pooled database from “infant siblings” to expedite entry into intervention and support and work towards preventing the most debilitating aspects of autism. We also recently awarded the contract for database management for the full BSRC to a group at McGill University.

ASF in the United States and ASFC will soon jointly announce that the University of Alberta will become the third funded site in ASF’s “Next Gen Sibs” project. The goal of this project is to build a global collaborative network that will help in identification, evaluation, diagnosis and intervention for the Next Generation: the children of “infant siblings” who did not develop autism.