The Drexel University School of Public Health launched this week the Early Autism Risk Longitudinal Investigation (EARLI) network, which is considered to be one of the largest research studies of its kind to investigate early risk factors for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The Wall Street Journal spotlighted the announcement and included commentary from Dr. Craig Newschaffer, a department chair at the Drexel University School of Public Health and the principal investigator of the EARLI Study.

The announcement also received national media coverage, especially in the markets of the study’s participants. The Drexel University School of Public Health is the national coordinator of the EARLI Study network. The local research sites include: Drexel University School of Public Health/Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; University of California at Davis/MIND Institute; Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/Kennedy Krieger Institute; and the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, CA.

Dr. Newschaffer is a professor and chair of the department of epidemiology and biostatistics at the Drexel University School of Public Health. Dr. Newschaffer joined the Drexel faculty from the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. At Johns Hopkins, he founded and directed the Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Epidemiology, one of five federally funded centers of excellence in autism epidemiology. Major initiatives included the development of methods for monitoring autism spectrum disorders prevalence and participation in the National CADDRE Study of Autism and Child Development.

Dr. Newschaffer also is engaged in other projects focusing on how particular genes might interact with environment exposures to increase autism risk. He also began a collaboration with Peking University to explore approaches for conducting epidemiologic research on autism in China. Dr. Newschaffer is an associate editor of the American Journal of Epidemiology, and a member of the editorial board of the journal Developmental Epidemiology.