Autism is an increasing public health concern in the U.S., with current estimates indicating that 1 in 31 school-aged children are autistic. The rise in prevalence over recent decades suggests environmental factors may be key contributors; however, no study has systematically examined the breadth of environmental exposures that may influence autism outcomes. To address this gap, Dr. Walker’s team at Emory University and collaborators at Johns Hopkins University were recently awarded one of thirteen Autism Data Science Initiative (ADSI) projects.
The project, “Mapping Internal Exposome-Metabolome Dynamics with Advanced Data Science to Identify Environmental Determinants of Autism,” will conduct the largest internal exposome study of autism to date. Using high-throughput, high-resolution mass spectrometry, the team will profile thousands of endogenous metabolites and tens of thousands of potential exposures in approximately 8,000 blood samples collected during pregnancy, at birth, from siblings and parents of autistic children, and from recently diagnosed autistic children and matched controls.
This dataset of exposome profiles will be used to assemble the Autism Exposome Atlas, establishing the largest exposome database for autism research to date. The atlas will be well-powered for discovery analyses of non-genetic factors influencing autism outcomes, including the role of critical developmental windows and differentiation of shared environmental versus genetic influences through familial comparisons. Results have the potential to identify exposome biomarkers for autism and reveal how environmental exposures and related biological responses contribute to neurodevelopment and symptom heterogeneity, providing evidence needed to prioritize public health interventions that support child neurodevelopment.
The technology platforms enabling this effort were developed through the ARPA-H–funded IndiPHARM project, which supported advances in high-throughput sample preparation, automated sample cataloguing and processing workflows, fast pharmacoexposomic methods, and large-scale annotation of environmental exposures, drugs, dietary chemicals, and related metabolites. The ADSI project represents a key demonstration of these approaches at scale and will provide a foundation for future large-scale exposome studies.
- Link to ADSI projects: https://dpcpsi.nih.gov/autism-data-science-initiative/funded-research
- Link to Dr Walker’s specific project: https://dpcpsi.nih.gov/autism-data-science-initiative/funded-research#table10
- Link to NIH Reporter: https://reporter.nih.gov/search/969Gt5moqUq251kgTOLJ8w/project-details/11361923
- Learn more about Dr Walker.