Portfolio Analysis Report
IACC Autism Research
2019-2020
Overview
The IACC Autism Research Portfolio Analysis Reports provide the IACC with comprehensive information about the status of autism research funding among federal agencies and private research organizations in the United States. This edition of the report features analysis of funding trends in autism research from 2008-2020. For the first time, a companion "At-a-Glance" summary document has been released that provides an overview of the key findings of the report.
Introduction and Analysis Framework
The Office of National Autism Coordination (ONAC) at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institutes of Health (NIH) supports the activities of the IACC. The first IACC Autism Research Portfolio Analysis Report was issued in 2008 to provide the Committee with comprehensive information about the status of autism research funding among federal agencies and private research organizations in the United States. Read more.
Autism Research Funders and Funding in 2019 and 2020
Fourteen federal departments and agencies and 16 private organizations contributed their autism research funding information for the 2019-2020 Autism Research Portfolio Analysis Report. These 30 funders are listed in Table 1. The IACC and ONAC routinely review the funding landscape and offer opportunities for additional funders to join the IACC portfolio analysis effort. Read more.
Autism Research Areas and Analyses of Funding Over Time
To better understand which areas of research were funded in 2019 and 2020, projects were aligned with the seven Questions of the 2016-2017 IACC Strategic Plan. Figures 12 and 13 illustrate the breakdown of research funding per each of the Strategic Plan’s Question areas, which are: Screening and Diagnosis (Question 1), Biology (Question 2), Genetic and Environmental Factors (Question 3), Interventions (Question 4), Services and Supports (Question 5), Lifespan (Question 6), and Infrastructure and Prevalence (Question 7). Read more.
Analysis of Funding Addressing IACC Strategic Plan Objectives by Research Area
The 2016-2017 IACC Strategic Plan has three to four Objectives in each Question area, plus an additional Cross-Cutting Objective on autism in girls and women, that describe specific research priorities identified by the Committee. There are 23 total Objectives in the 2016-2017 IACC Strategic Plan. Each autism project that received funding in 2019 and/or 2020 was evaluated to determine which Strategic Plan Question and Objective it fulfilled. Read more.
The 2019-2020 IACC Autism Research Portfolio Analysis Report represents the 12th and 13th years of data collected and the ninth comprehensive report of U.S. autism research funding across both the federal and private sectors. Project information was collected from 30 federal and private funders; the diverse missions of the different funders are reflected in the autism research portfolio across the seven Questions of the Strategic Plan (Figures 20-22). Read more.
