Autism Clinical Trials in Atlanta, GA

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the long-term safety and tolerability of cariprazine in the treatment of pediatric participants with schizophrenia, bipolar I disorder, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and to establish the benefit-risk profile of long-term treatment in this population. Read Less

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) consists of deficits in social, communication, and cognitive development, repetitive and stereotypic behaviors. Many ASD patients show notably high levels of irritability, including verbal and physical aggression, self injury, and/or property destruction. Autistic infants tend to avoid eye contact and show little interest in others. This study will assess how safe and effective cariprazine is in treating pediatric participants (5 to 17 years of age) with ASD. Adverse events and change in disease activity will be assessed. Cariprazine is an investigational drug being developed for the treatment of irritability due to ASD. This study is double-blinded means that neither the participants nor the study doctors will know who will be given cariprazine and who will be given placebo (does not contain treatment drug). Study doctors put the participants in 1 of the 2 groups, called treatment arms. Each group receives a different treatment. There is a 1 in 2 chance that participants will be assigned to placebo. Approximately 152 participants diagnosed with ASD will be enrolled in approximately 40 sites globally. Participants will receive oral capsules or oral solution of cariprazine or placebo once daily for 8-weeks and will undergo a 4-week safety follow-up period. There may be higher treatment burden for participants in this trial compared to their standard of care. Participants will attend regular visits during the study at a hospital or clinic. The effect of the treatment will be checked by medical assessments, checking for side effects and completing questionnaires. Read Less

The goal of this collaborative R01 is to demonstrate the therapeutic value and community-wide implementability of an early intervention (EI) platform for toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that is completely virtual, from recruitment through intervention. This platform-Early Social Interaction Mobile Coaching (ESI-MC) deploys individual telehealth sessions with coaching and feedback to help families embed intervention in everyday activities. Specifically, the investigators will conduct an effectiveness trial of ESI-MC to address the important question of whether starting evidence-based intervention earlier leads to better outcomes than starting later. The investigators will address this question by using a modified stepped wedge design and blended implementation research to analyze data obtained with ESI-MC start at 18, 24, or 30 months. The investigators will diagnostically ascertain 240 children from a pool of 360 18-month-olds with early signs of autism, 30 in each of 8 US regions (Central and SW Florida; Atlanta, GA; suburbs of Philadelphia, PA; New York City, NY; Cincinnati, OH; Chicago, IL; Seattle, WA; and Los Angeles, CA). Research participants will be recruited using a new virtual platform-My Baby Navigator-linking a new surveillance and screening tool, an app to upload video-recorded home observations and telehealth intervention sessions, and a package of educational resources. The 240 children will be randomly assigned to one of three ESI-MC timing groups. ESI-MC will be delivered by community-based early intervention providers (EIPs) currently working within the the early intervention system in the recruitment regions. The investigators will measure child active engagement and social communication change every 6 months as the primary outcome variables. Outcome measures of developmental level, autism symptoms, and adaptive behavior will be examined to measure differential treatment effects. Maximizing the use of mobile technology, ESI-MC offers the prospect of a community-viable, scalable and sustainable treatment to improve EI services for toddlers with ASD, particularly among minority and low-resource communities. Read Less

Babies Can't Wait (BCW) in Georgia will be referring families with children seeking an autism spectrum disorder (autism) diagnosis at the Emory Autism Center's (EAC) Child Screening and Assessment Clinic.The objective of this study is to develop, pilot, and evaluate a diagnostic protocol for children identified at high risk for autism in the BCW early intervention program screening (part of a public health service). This program evaluation will be using pre- and post-data and data collected through the process to evaluate the effectiveness of the EDRM pilot. Read Less

The goal of this clinical study is to learn about the utility and performance of the EarliPoint(™) System: Evaluation for Autism Spectrum Disorder to monitor changes in a child's verbal ability, non-verbal learning, and social disability over time in children ages 15-84 months with autism spectrum disorder or related developmental delays (DD) and in those who are typically developing. The main questions it aims to answer are: To estimate the change in each of the EarliPoint index scores in typically developing children ages 15-84 months from baseline through 180 days as a function of the child's age. To estimate the change in the EarliPoint verbal and non-verbal index scores in ASD/DD children ages 15-84 months from baseline through 180 days as a function of the child's age in: a) those who showed clinical improvement, and b) those who did not show clinical improvement. To estimate the relationship of the EarliPoint verbal and non-verbal index scores to clinical reference assessments in ASD/DD children as a function of their age from baseline through 180 days. To estimate the degree of change, if change occurs, month-to-month in the EarliPoint Social Disability Index score from baseline through 180 days. To estimate the incidence of behavioral events (e.g., tantrums, etc.) which limit the subject from completing an eye-tracking session. To estimate the incidence of adverse device effects associated with the use of the study device. Read Less

The purpose of this research use only (RUO) study is to detect genomic structural variants (SVs) in human DNA by Optical Genome Mapping (OGM) using the Bionano Genomics Saphyr system. SVs are a type of genetic alternation that includes deletions, duplications, and both balanced and unbalanced rearrangements (ex: inversions or translocations), as well as specific repeat expansions and contractions. The results of OGM analysis will be compared to prior clinical genetic test results to determine how OGM compares to current standard of care (SOC) clinical test methods such as chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA), karyotyping, Southern blot analysis, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and/or next generation sequencing (NGS), etc. Read Less

The goal of this project is to measure the clinical utility of an objective and quantitative eye-tracking assay collected on a standalone, mobile investigational device to accurately screen 9-month-old infants for autism spectrum disorder and other actionable delays. Read Less

This study involves sample collection to identify biomarkers relating to Autism Spectrum Disorder(ASD) in the saliva of children who are between the ages of 18 months to 6 years and 11 months. Participants will at each timepoint have a non-invasive saliva swab collected and complete a brief demographic and medical history questionnaire as well. Children in the pediatric/provider setting who will receive a referral for an ASD diagnosis because they were determined to have a suspicion of developing ASD will be enrolled in the study. Children will also be enrolled in the specialist evaluation setting where they will receive a DSM-5 diagnosis. A subset of both enrollment cohorts will also be followed up with at a third time point in which their diagnosis will be confirmed, and information about any ongoing treatment will be gathered. Read Less