University of Washington joins new Autism Treatment Network to provide better medica...( Parents who have children with autism o...),Health

Parents who have children with autism often have no place to turn to when it comes to finding quality treatment for this often still mysterious developmental disability which is accompanied by a wide variety of medical problems. That is why six leading medical institutions, including the Autism Center at the University of Washington, today are joining forces with physicians and parents to form the nonprofit Autism Treatment Network.

Major goals of the network are to develop standards of treatment for people who have autism and to build a national autism database, said Geraldine Dawson, director of the UW's Autism Center. The database will collect information on the range of medical conditions from which people with autism suffer and those treatments that have been tested and have been found to be effective.

In addition to the UW Autism Center, other medical institutions joining the Autism Treatment Network are Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, as well as individual physicians at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Ore., and Columbia University Medical Center in New York. Other partners in the network include the Northwest Autism Foundation and the Cure Autism Now Foundation, a leading funder of autism research.

"There are hundreds of thousands of children and families in the United States struggling with autism," said Seattle businessman Richard Fade, a co-founder of the Autism Treatment Network. "They face a tremendous challenge. This is especially true with regard to medical issues and access to treatment. There are still large gaps in our overall understanding of the disorder."

Dawson said the Autism Treatment Network is being modeled after the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the Children's Cancer Network, which have spurred dramatic gains in medical science's ability to treat those conditions.

"All too often when parents are reelin
'"/>

Contact: Joel Schwarz
joels@u.washington.edu
206-543-2580
University of Washington
3-Feb-2005

Page: 1 2 3
Related medicine news :

1. Indiana University researchers closer to helping hearing-impaired using stem cells
2. Boston University team finds link between high cholesterol and better cognitive performance
3. University seeks recruits for arthritis study
4. University of Manchester awarded 826k for brain science and mental health research
5. $4 million grant boosts University of Michigan campaign for a new childrens hospital
6. Lead in the environment causes violent crime, reports University of Pittsburgh researcher at AAAS
7. Next generation body scanner launched by the University of Manchester
8. Binghamton University launches microelectronics research center
9. University of Manchester makes made-to-measure skin and bones a reality using inkjet printers
10. RelayHealth selected by Columbia University to link doctors and patients online
11. New protein discovered by Hebrew University researchers