The Office of Autism Research Coordination, on behalf of the IACC, asked Federal agencies and private organizations for information about the ASD-related research grants they funded in 2009, including the annual budget for each project and its relevance to the seven critical questions of the 2010 IACC Strategic Plan for ASD Research, listed below.

IACC Strategic Plan Questions and Corresponding Research Areas

IACC Strategic Plan Question	Research Area
IACC Strategic Plan Question 1. When Should I Be Concerned?	Research Area Diagnosis
IACC Strategic Plan Question 2. How Can I Understand What Is Happening?	Research Area Underlying Biology
IACC Strategic Plan Question 3. What Caused This To Happen and Can It Be Prevented?	Research Area Causes and Risk Factors
IACC Strategic Plan Question 4. Which Treatments and Interventions Will Help?	Research Area Treatments
IACC Strategic Plan Question 5. Where Can I Turn For Services?	Research Area Services/Implementation
IACC Strategic Plan Question 6. What Does the Future Hold, Particularly For Adults?	Research Area Issues Across the Lifespan
IACC Strategic Plan Question 7. What Other Infrastructure and Surveillance Needs Must Be Met?	Research Area Biobanks, Data Sharing, Workforce, Surveillance

Table 1. The table lists the seven consumer-based questions that serve as the framework for the IACC Strategic Plan for Autism Spectrum Disorder Research and the research areas that correspond to each question.

Research project data was requested from 13 Federal and private ASD stakeholders, and all reported they had provided funding for ASD research in 2009. Table 2 lists the 13 agencies and organizations that participated in this effort. Combined, the Federal and private investment in ASD research in 2009 was $314,385,374, with the Federal government providing 76% ($237,426,725) and private organizations funding 24% ($76,958,649) of ASD research (Figure 1).

Agencies and Organizations Included in the 2009 IACC Portfolio Analysis

Federal Agencies	Private Organizations
Federal Agencies Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Department of Defense (DoD) Department of Education (ED) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) National Institutes of Health (NIH)	Private Organizations Autism Research Institute (ARI) Autism Science Foundation (ASF) Autism Speaks (AS) Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD) Organization for Autism Research (OAR) Simons Foundation (SF) Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center (SARRC)

Table 2. The table lists the six Federal agencies and seven private organizations included in the 2009 IACC Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Portfolio Analysis of ASD research funding.

Federal vs. Private Funding for ASD Research in 2009
(Total funding = $314,385,374)

Figure 1. Seventy-six percent of the $314,385,374 distributed for ASD research in 2009 was provided by Federal sources, while the remaining 24% of funding was obtained from private organizations.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA or Recovery Act) was enacted in February 2009 with the objective of stimulating the economy, creating and preserving jobs, and investing in long-term growth. Among the Federal agencies that support autism research projects, as described in this report, only the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reported use of Recovery Act funds to support autism research projects. The NIH received $8.2 billion in Recovery Act funds to help stimulate the U.S. economy through support and advancement of biomedical research. The funds were used to support original research projects as well as to expand and enhance existing programs. In 2009, $64 million in NIH Recovery Act funds were used to jumpstart the implementation of the newly released 2009 IACC Strategic Plan for Autism Spectrum Disorder Research, supporting 141 new autism research projects. These new autism projects include those that focus on novel research directions as well as some that provide supplemental support to existing projects in order to expand the scope of ongoing research. Many of the NIH-ARRA funded projects directly align with IACC Strategic Plan objectives, including research to identify biomarkers for early diagnosis, develop rapid screening instruments, identify subtypes of autism, explore the underlying environmental and genetic causes, and understand autism in adults. In total, NIH-ARRA funding ($64 million) accounted for 33% of NIH's overall ASD research funding in 2009 as well as 27% of the overall Federal funds spent on autism research. The NIH-ARRA funds comprised 20% of total ASD research funding across all participating Federal agencies and private organizations in 2009 (Figure 2).

Impact of NIH-ARRA on Total ASD Research Funding in 2009
(Total funding = $314,385,374)

Figure 2. Sixty-three percent of 2009 ASD research funding was provided by the NIH. NIH-ARRA funding accounted for 33% of NIH ASD research funding and 20% of total 2009 ASD research funding. Thirty-seven percent of 2009 ASD research funding was from sources other than the NIH.