About us
What will it take to make major progress toward effective treatment of autism? What can we accomplish when we put families first, and focus the talent and commitment of the world's best biomedical minds on accelerating new treatments?
Great minds do not think alike. Contrary to the cliché, great minds think in complementary ways to generate unique insights into seemingly intractable problems. Autism Spectrum Disorder is such a problem. The Autism Consortium is dedicated to finding solutions and is in a unique position to succeed.
In 2006, a visionary group in Boston recognized that the problem of autism is too complex and too variable to solve piecemeal, too urgent to address incrementally. They founded the Autism Consortium, assembling an unprecedented team of imaginative, bold researchers dedicated to changing the way we understand and treat autism. Bold and creative donors fostering bold and creative science: a potent combination for revolutionizing science and treating a complex disorder now.
The Autism Consortium believes that the answer is a powerful combination of families and researchers working together in a focused effort to break barriers and get results. We bring hope and help to families struggling with autism spectrum disorders. Our extraordinary network of leading scientists, physicians, patients, and families are working together to get fast results in the search for treatments. The Autism Consortium is grounded in the belief that when great scientists put their minds together, they will make more progress more rapidly that they would working alone. In fewer than two years, they created a Consortium of researchers, physician-scientists from 14 institutions in the Boston area, along with a committed corps of patients and families. The Autism Consortium's core principles are simple:
- Scientific collaboration accelerates research
- ASD is a disorder that cannot wait for results to come from "business as usual"
- Patients and families are integral to understanding and treating ASD; they are part of the research team
The Autism Consortium offers rapid-response to researchers who need funding for original, probing ideas while, at the same time, giving families the most up-to-date support available.