The donation and study of biological tissue plays a critical role in research efforts that are focused on finding treatments and cures for many diseases and disorders.  For autism, that program is the Autism Tissue Program (ATP). 

The ATP, a science program of Autism Speaks, was conceived to address a critical impedance to autism research by making post-mortem brain tissue available at no cost, to as many qualified scientists as possible, in order to advance autism research and unravel the mysteries of this devastating disorder.  Working with tissue banks, organ procurement agencies, medical examiners and the general public, this is the largest program solely dedicated to increasing and enhancing the availability of post-mortem brain tissue for basic research in autism.

The differences we see among people with autism raise questions about neurological development that can only be answered by studying brain tissue.  Though new state-of-the-art breakthroughs in neuroimaging allow scientists to peer directly into the brain to study changes in discrete brain regions, or from a simple blood sample study the complex genetic foundations that may contribute to this disorder, it is only with brain tissue, that scientists can go far beyond the limits of these technologies and study autism at both a cellular and molecular level.   Tissue research allows scientists to explore the genetic contributions that influence cellular changes within the brain, as well as discovering neurological states, otherwise undetectable through other methods of analysis.

Brain tissue donations are rare and in great need by researchers.  Though blood and DNA sampling as well as MRI’s provide some insight into ASD, it is only through the direct examination of human neurological tissue that scientists are able to deeply understand the cellular and molecular states that contribute to autism.  In many cases, meticulous comparative scientific studies of both autism and unaffected tissue are the only ways in which key insights into the biology of the human brain and autism can be gained.  Without post mortem brain donations from both individuals with autism and those unaffected by any neurological disorders, this field of research will falter and our understanding of this condition will be significantly held back. 

The Autism Tissue Program is funded by Autism Speaks in partnership with the Harvard Brain and Tissue Resource Center.  Autism Speaks and its many partners are committed to expanding and enhancing the Autism Tissue Program’s ability to collect more tissue for research through arrangements with professional tissue and organ procurement organizations and general awareness campaigns, worldwide.  As the nation’s largest autism advocacy organization whose mission is to promote autism awareness, increase services, and fund biomedical research on the causes, prevention, treatments, and cure for autism, Autism Speaks has a strong stake in the priorities set forth by this program.