FLAG, Ariz. –Northern Arizona University is playing a key role in a new nationwide research initiative funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to improve health and quality of life for people with autism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Olivia Lindly, Ph.D., associate professor of health sciences in NAU\u2019s Center for Community Health and Engaged Research, is serving as co-principal investigator on the three-year, $4.25 million project led by Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). The award is part of the NIH\u2019s $50 million Autism Data Science Initiative, launched in September<\/a>. The project is supported by OHSU co-principal investigators Katharine Zuckerman M.D., professor of pediatrics in the OHSU School of Medicine, and Margaret Gillis, Ph.D., SRI International principal researcher. The project is also supported by NAU co-investigators Benjamin Lucas, assistant professor in Mathematics and Statistics and David Folch, chair and associate professor in Geography, Planning, and Recreation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Autistic children experience some of the lowest health care quality and highest unmet needs of any pediatric chronic condition. Disparities also persist in service use and long-term health outcomes among autistic people. Researchers note that these problems exist because outcomes most essential to autistic children and caregivers have not been adequately defined, and few large-scale studies have examined the individual, family, service, and community-level factors that predict health outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This study aims to close those gaps by combining cutting-edge data science methodologies with the lived expertise of autistic people and their caregivers. Using a community-engaged approach, the research team will center the voices of people who have historically been excluded from research conversations to define meaningful health outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis funding marks a powerful step forward in ensuring that children with autism and their caregivers have equitable access to the high-quality care they need and deserve,\u201d added Janelle Chiasera, Dean of the College of Health and Human Services. \u201cNAU is honored to help lead a project that will strengthen health outcomes and make a lasting difference for families nationwide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The project will analyze multiple large datasets, including Medicaid claims and national surveys, to identify predictors of positive health outcomes related to preventive care, sleep, nutrition, and access to effective community supports. Input from autistic youth and their caregivers will guide interpretation of findings and shape recommendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAutism is highly variable, and every child\u2019s needs can look very different,\u201d Lindly said. \u201cWe will account for that heterogeneity analytically so that we are not generalizing for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zuckerman emphasized the project\u2019s focus on practical impact. \u201cFinding out what causes autism is helpful for the future, but our project is focused on helping people right now<\/em>,\u201d Zuckerman said. \u201cWe are looking to find out what supports and services families need, which programs work, and which do not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The long-term goal is to provide evidence-based answers and clear action steps that health care providers, policymakers, and communities can use to improve outcomes for autistic individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis project is focused on helping families by finding out what supports and services work best,\u201d Lindly said. \u201cAutistic people, their parents, and their caregivers deserve to know what programs are most effective for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n ###<\/p>\n\n\n\n For more information about the study or NAU\u2019s Center for Community Health and Engaged Research, please visit www.nau.edu\/cher<\/a> or contact Beck Thomas at Beck.Thomas@nau.edu<\/a> or 928-523-9104.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" FLAG, Ariz. –Northern Arizona University is playing a key role in a new nationwide research initiative funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to improve health and quality of life for people with autism. Olivia Lindly, Ph.D., associate professor of health sciences in NAU\u2019s Center for Community Health and Engaged Research, is serving as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":782,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[694,10,555,398,695],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/center-community-health-engaged-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16848"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/center-community-health-engaged-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/center-community-health-engaged-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/center-community-health-engaged-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/782"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/center-community-health-engaged-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16848"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/center-community-health-engaged-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16850,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/center-community-health-engaged-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16848\/revisions\/16850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/center-community-health-engaged-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/center-community-health-engaged-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/center-community-health-engaged-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}