ARIA Awards Two Major Site Grants to Launch Inaugural IMPACT Network
ARIA says the grants will fund harmonized short-term natural-history and biomarker data collection to speed clinical-trial readiness for six genetic conditions, including studies of profound autism.
Overview
- ARIA announced on June 11–12 that Baylor College of Medicine/Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s and Boston Children’s Hospital each received up to $17.25 million to join the IMPACT Network.
- The two centers join an initial cohort of 12 international clinical sites that will run a coordinated short-term natural-history and clinical-endpoint study to make trial-ready datasets.
- The study will focus on six specified genetic conditions—ARID1B, CHD2, GRIN2B, RNU4-2, SCN2A, and SLC6A1—and include children with profound autism who lack an identified genetic cause.
- Boston Children’s named Siddharth Srivastava as lead PI with Matthew Siegel overseeing clinical research and Susan Faja leading biomarker work, while Baylor/Texas Children’s will be led by Dr. Jimmy Holder and his multidisciplinary team.
- ARIA intends the network to create a shared, high-quality data and biomarker resource to overcome small, inconsistent datasets, accelerate therapy development, and expand trial access for families of children with severe neurodevelopmental disabilities.