Many traditional cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation, effectively destroy cancer cells but often lead to severe side effects that leave patients feeling even more sick.

Two 天美影视传媒 researchers are developing treatments that aim to simultaneously treat cancer and improve patients’ quality of life. , UW professor of materials science and engineering and of neurological surgery in the UW School of Medicine, develops tiny systems that deliver cancer treatment specifically to cancer cells. , UW assistant professor of materials science and engineering and of radiology in the UW School of Medicine, uses interventional radiology to precisely deliver cancer treatment to the body.

Both Zhang and Som are studying a cancer treatment method called , where a patient’s own immune cells are trained to target and destroy cancer cells. The two researchers are now collaborating with the goal of getting their therapeutics into the clinic.

For World Cancer Day, UW News asked Zhang and Som to discuss their novel materials and how these materials can treat both the cancer and the patient.

Tell us about your research in this area.聽

Miqin Zhang: One of our key research areas is developing biocompatible nanoplatforms for cancer diagnosis, treatment and therapy-response monitoring. For example, one of our recent advances is using tiny particles called nanoparticles to deliver immunotherapies or vaccines in preclinical animal models. The payloads from these nanoparticles activate immune cells to eradicate drug-resistant solid tumors and metastases.

In general, our nanoplatforms provide tumor specificity in two unique ways:

• The nanoparticles can carry diverse payloads 鈥� including chemotherapeutics and genetic materials 鈥� to address tumor heterogeneity
• We can use different methods to trigger our nanoparticles to release their payloads, such as changing the temperature or pH. Other methods include using enzymes or magnetic fields.

Our systems are designed for versatility and can work in tandem with various tumor-targeting and therapeutic agents.

Avik Som: I am a physician-scientist with clinical training in interventional radiology, with a specific focus in interventional oncology. In this field we often deliver therapy directly to single lesions using small needles and wires. This eliminates the need for invasive surgery in patients who are often too sick for surgery.

My research expertise has focused on developing novel drug delivery materials and techniques for interventional radiologists to use, including in the field of immunotherapy. Interventional radiologists have long succeeded at delivering therapy highly precisely within the body. Using the best of material science, my lab looks at changing what we鈥檙e delivering to heal our patients of both their cancer and the underlying ravages that the cancer has caused.

How can your materials both extend patients’ lives and improve their quality of life?

MZ: Our new nanoparticle materials promise more effective and less harmful treatments in a variety of ways. First, the nanoparticles target cancer cells specifically, which minimizes side effects and enables controlled drug release to maintain therapeutic levels without toxicity spikes.

Next, we design these nanoparticles using biocompatible materials, such as iron oxide and chitosan coatings, which reduce immune-response reactions and make the nanoparticles more compatible with long-term use.

Cancer’s complex and variable nature means that treatments that are effective for one patient might not work for another, which makes it difficult to create one-size-fits-all solutions. But our nanoparticles support personalized medicine because we can target specific mutated genes in individual patients. Furthermore, we can develop nanoparticles that are multifunctional. For example, a single nanoparticle can have capabilities that enable both monitoring as well as treatment.

AS: The concepts of extending patients’ lives and improving their quality of life have effectively been done in parallel for years. For example, the UW has extensive history and expertise in tissue engineering. But it usually isn’t combined with cancer care because the two goals often feel contradictory: Tissue engineering results from inducing cell growth, while historically cancer therapy has directly focused on killing cells. So the fields have diverged.

But we can design novel materials to do both: One material can use different release rates to stagger the anti-cancer versus tissue-engineering effects. For example, we can use interventional radiology to implant a material directly into a tumor. The material can have an initial burst of drug release that has an anti-cancer effect. And then, after killing the tumor, the residual material can release factors that recruit normal cells to fill in the gap where the cancer was.

Alternatively, as radiologists, we can see where cancer is and isn鈥檛. It is therefore possible to selectively deliver anti-cancer agents to the cancer, while simultaneously delivering pro-tissue engineering agents to normal tissue.

Are any of these treatments currently available in the clinic?

MZ: The process of getting a treatment like this approved is complex and resource-intensive, because it requires extensive research, clinical trials and regulatory approvals. To reduce clinical trial costs, our nanoparticle platform is adaptable for multiple genetic therapies, which offers regulatory advantages and paves the way for FDA approval.

Right now, our nanoparticles are still at the basic research stage and have not yet entered clinical trials. They have, however, demonstrated their efficacy in various pre-clinical animal models. We are now prepared to engage with venture capitalists and major pharmaceutical companies to advance our nanoparticles into clinical trials.

AS: Our research is also still in the basic stage for the moment. We need to determine the best type of material and safest way to deliver it into patients through rigorous pre-clinical testing.

That being said, at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center and UW Medicine, we are leading an intratumoral therapy group that is ramping up clinical trials for patients using therapies that are in development around the country. In addition, we are working on bringing on more minimally invasive tissue engineering trials to the clinic soon.

What part of this collaboration is the most exciting to you?

AS: I was fortunate to meet Miqin during my interview at UW, and we struck up a vibrant conversation. Miqin has been a leader in the fields of biomaterials and drug delivery, and she is an ideal mentor to help me with my goal of bringing these advances to the clinic.

MZ: I have more than 15 years of experience in cancer research, and I strongly believe that interventional radiology is transforming cancer care by offering minimally invasive, precise treatment options that reduce side effects and improve patient outcomes. I am thrilled to collaborate with Avik so that we can apply our advanced materials and his innovative approaches to enhance interventional radiology for cancer treatment and tissue growth in a way that minimizes side effects and improves patients鈥� quality of life.

Zhang’s research is funded by the Kuni Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. Zhang is also a faculty researcher with the UW Institute for Nano-Engineered Systems and the Molecular Engineering and Sciences Institute. Som’s research has been funded by the Radiologic Society of North America and the National Institutes of Health.

For more information, contact Zhang at mzhang@uw.edu and Som at aviksom@uw.edu.

UPDATE (Aug. 2, 2024): A previous version of this story misstated Paul Kinahan’s name.

Fifteen faculty members at the 天美影视传媒 have been elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences. They are among 36 scientists and educators from across the state . Selection recognizes the new members鈥� 鈥渙utstanding record of scientific and technical achievement, and their willingness to work on behalf of the academy to bring the best available science to bear on issues within the state of Washington.鈥�

Twelve UW faculty members were selected by current WSAS members. They are:

• , associate professor of epidemiology, of health systems and population health, and of child, family and population health nursing, who 鈥減ossesses the rare combination of scientific rigor and courageous commitment to local community health. Identifying original ways to examine questions, and seeking out appropriate scientific methods to study those questions, allow her to translate research to collaborative community interventions with a direct impact on the health of communities.鈥�
• , the Shauna C. Larson endowed chair in learning sciences, for 鈥渉is work in the cultural basis of scientific research and learning, bringing rigor and light to multiculturalism in science and STEM education through STEM Teaching Tools and other programs.鈥�
• , professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, 鈥渇or her sustained commitment to community-engaged, science-driven practice and policy change related to the prevention of suicide and the promotion of mental health, with a focus on providing effective, sustainable and culturally appropriate care to people with serious mental illness.鈥�
• , the David and Nancy Auth endowed professor in bioengineering, who has 鈥渃harted new paths for 30-plus years. Her quest to deeply understand protein folding/unfolding and the link to amyloid diseases has propelled her to pioneer unique computational and experimental methods leading to the discovery and characterization of a new protein structure linked to toxicity early in amyloidogenesis.鈥�
• , professor of environmental and occupational health sciences, of global health, and of emergency medicine, who is 鈥渁 global and national leader at the intersection of climate change and health whose work has advanced our understanding of climate change health effects and has informed the design of preparedness and disaster response planning in Washington state, nationally and globally.鈥�
• , professor of bioengineering and of radiology, who is 鈥渞ecognized for his contributions to the science and engineering of medical imaging systems and for leadership in national programs and professional and scientific societies advancing the capabilities of medical imaging.鈥�
• , the Donald W. and Ruth Mary Close professor of electrical and computer engineering and faculty member in the UW Clean Energy Institute, who is 鈥渞ecognized for his distinguished research contributions to the design and operation of economical, reliable and environmentally sustainable power systems, and the development of influential educational materials used to train the next generation of power engineers.鈥�
• , senior vice president and director of the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, the Joel D. Meyers endowed chair of clinical research and of vaccine and infectious disease at Fred Hutch, and UW professor of medicine, who is 鈥渋s recognized for her seminal contributions to developing validated laboratory methods for interrogating cellular and humoral immune responses to HIV, TB and COVID-19 vaccines, which has led to the analysis of more than 100 vaccine and monoclonal antibody trials for nearly three decades, including evidence of T-cell immune responses as a correlate of vaccine protection.鈥�
• , professor of political science and the Walker family professor for the arts and sciences, who is a specialist 鈥渋n environmental politics, international political economy, and the politics of nonprofit organizations. He is widely recognized as a leader in the field of environmental politics, best known for his path-breaking research on the role firms and nongovernmental organizations can play in promoting more stringent regulatory standards.鈥�
• , the Ballmer endowed dean of social work, for investigations of 鈥渉ow inequality, in its many forms, affects health, illness and quality of life. He has developed unique conceptual frameworks to investigate how race, ethnicity and immigration are associated with health and social outcomes.鈥�
• , professor of chemistry, who is elected 鈥渇or distinguished scientific and community contributions to advancing the field of electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, which have transformed how researchers worldwide analyze data.鈥�
• , professor of bioengineering and of ophthalmology, whose 鈥減ioneering work in biomedical optics, including the invention of optical microangiography and development of novel imaging technologies, has transformed clinical practice, significantly improving patient outcomes. Through his numerous publications, patents and clinical translations, his research has helped shape the field of biomedical optics.鈥�

Three new UW members of the academy were selected by virtue of their previous election to one of the National Academies. They are:

• , professor of atmospheric and climate science, who had been elected to the National Academy of Sciences 鈥渇or contributions to research and expertise in atmospheric radiation and cloud processes, remote sensing, cloud/aerosol/radiation/climate interactions, stratospheric circulation and stratosphere-troposphere exchanges and coupling, and climate change.鈥�
• , the Bartley Dobb professor for the study and prevention of violence in the Department of Epidemiology and a UW professor of pediatrics, who had been elected to the National Academy of Medicine 鈥渇or being a national public health leader whose innovative and multidisciplinary research to integrate data across the health care system and criminal legal system has deepened our understanding of the risk and consequences of firearm-related harm and informed policies and programs to reduce its burden, especially among underserved communities and populations.鈥�
• , division chief of general pediatrics at Seattle Children鈥檚 Hospital and a UW professor of pediatrics, who had been elected to the National Academy of Medicine 鈥渇or her leadership in advancing child health equity through scholarship in community-partnered design of innovative care models in pediatric primary care. Her work has transformed our understanding of how to deliver child preventive health care during the critical early childhood period to achieve equitable health outcomes and reduce disparities.鈥�

In addition, Dr. , president and director of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and of the Cancer Consortium 鈥� a partnership between the UW, Seattle Children鈥檚 Hospital and Fred Hutch 鈥� was elected to the academy for being 鈥減art of a research effort that found mutations in the cell-surface protein epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which plays an important role in helping lung cancer cells survive. Today, drugs that target EGFR can dramatically change outcomes for lung cancer patients by slowing the progression of the cancer.鈥�

the Boeing-Egtvedt endowed professor and chair in aeronautics and astronautics, will join the board effective Sept. 30. Morgansen was elected to WSAS in 2021 鈥渇or significant advances in nonlinear methods for integrated sensing and control in engineered, bioinspired and biological flight systems,鈥� and 鈥渇or leadership in cross-disciplinary aerospace workforce development.鈥� She is currently director of the Washington NASA Space Grant Consortium, co-director of the UW Space Policy and Research Center and chair of the AIAA Aerospace Department Chairs Association. She is also a member of the WSAS education committee.

鈥淚 am excited to serve on the WSAS board and work with WSAS members to leverage and grow WSAS鈥檚 impact by identifying new opportunities for WSAS to collaborate and partner with the state in addressing the state鈥檚 needs,鈥� said Morgansen.

The new members to the Washington State Academy of Sciences will be formally inducted in September.

Seven professors at the 天美影视传媒 are among 25 new members of the Washington State Academy of Sciences, according to a . Joining the academy is a recognition of 鈥渢heir outstanding record of scientific and technical achievement, and their willingness to work on behalf of the Academy to bring the best available science to bear on issues within the State of Washington.鈥�

Twenty of the incoming members for 2022 were selected by current WSAS members, while the other five were chosen by virtue of recently joining one of the National Academies.

UW faculty selected by current Academy members are:

• , the Robert G. and Jean A. Reid Executive Dean of Nursing, 鈥渇or pioneering research in cultural competence, conducting international collaborative research with professionals and family caregivers of older adults with dementia, advancing assessment of cultural awareness and its impact on healthcare, and supporting establishment of UW鈥檚 Center for Global Health Nursing and the first Center for Anti-Racism in Nursing.鈥�
• , the Harry and Catherine Jaynne Boand Endowed Professor of Chemistry, co-associate chair of the Department of Chemistry, and associate vice provost for research cyberinfrastructure, 鈥渇or a body of work that supercharges computational chemistry, including pioneering work in time- dependent electronic structure theory and quantum mechanical techniques,鈥� and 鈥渇or exemplary collaborative efforts, as well as leadership in developing educational pathways for underrepresented minority students in STEM.鈥� Li is also a faculty member in the UW Clean Energy Institute and the UW Molecular & Engineering Sciences Institute.
• , the Steven and Connie Rogel Endowed Professor of Chemical Engineering, professor of chemistry, and chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering, 鈥渇or pioneering contributions that advanced the frontiers of molecular simulation, impacting the prediction of enzyme activity in ionic liquids, peptide interactions with surfaces and molecular design.鈥� Pfaendtner is also a faculty member in the Clean Energy Institute and the Molecular & Engineering Sciences Institute, as well as a senior data fellow with the UW eScience Institute and staff scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
• , the Klaus and Mary Ann Saegebarth Endowed Professor of Chemistry, 鈥渇or pioneering fundamental and applied studies in mass spectrometry, physical chemistry, and newborn screening鈥� as well as 鈥減ropagation of science, science education, and technical expertise contributions to startup companies in Washington state.鈥�
• , the Kyocera Professor in Materials Science & Engineering and vice dean of the College of Engineering, 鈥渇or pioneering contribution to the discovery of new thermoelectric and energy storage materials for clean energy, and for exceptional leadership to promote interdisciplinary collaboration among academia, industry, and national laboratories for creating transformational and sustainable impact for Washington.鈥� Yang is also a faculty member in the Clean Energy Institute and the Molecular & Engineering Sciences Institute.
• Dr. , professor of radiology and director of the UW Medicine Image-Guided Bio-Molecular Intervention Laboratory, 鈥渇or work as an internationally prominent physician-scientist in the field of image-guided minimally invasive interventional therapies鈥� and 鈥渇or pioneering contributions and outstanding achievements in developing innovative and cutting-edge medical imaging and interventional radiology for effective management of life-threatening diseases, such as atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and cancer.鈥�

In addition, Dr. , UW professor of genome sciences, investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and faculty member in the Molecular Engineering & Sciences Institute, was selected by virtue of his election to the National Academy of Sciences 鈥渇or pioneering a variety of genome sequencing and analysis methods, including exome sequencing and its earliest applications to gene discovery for Mendelian disorders and autism; cell-free DNA diagnostics for cancer and reproductive medicine; massively parallel reporter assays; saturation genome editing; whole organism lineage tracing; and massively parallel molecular profiling of single cells.鈥�

New members to the Washington State Academy of Sciences will be formally inducted in September.

Researchers have long known the amygdala is significantly larger in school-age children diagnosed with autism, but it was unknown precisely when that enlargement occurs. Now, for the first time, researchers from the Infant Brain Imaging Study (IBIS) Network, which includes the 天美影视传媒, used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to demonstrate that the amygdala grows too rapidly in infancy. Overgrowth begins between 6 and 12 months of age, before the characteristics of autism fully emerge, potentially enabling the earliest identification of this condition.

The , published March 25 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, is the first to document amygdala overgrowth before autism appears clinically. The research was conducted through the IBIS Network, a consortium of 10 universities in the United States and Canada.

The study also showed that increased growth of the amygdala in infants who were later diagnosed with autism differed markedly from brain-growth patterns in babies with another neurodevelopmental disorder, fragile X syndrome, where no differences in amygdala growth were observed.

The research found that infants with fragile X syndrome already exhibit cognitive delays at 6 months of age. Infants who will later be diagnosed with autism do not show any deficits in cognitive ability at 6 months but have a gradual decline in cognitive ability between 6 and 24 months, the age when they were diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in this study.

鈥淲e also found that the rate of amygdala overgrowth in the first year is linked to the child鈥檚 social deficits at age two,鈥� said first author , assistant professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and faculty of the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities. 鈥淭he faster the amygdala grew in infancy, the more social difficulties the child showed when diagnosed with autism a year later.鈥�

by the IBIS team and others 聽revealed that even though the social deficits that are a hallmark of autism are not present at 6 months of age, infants who go on to develop autism have altered attention to visual stimuli in their surroundings in the first year of life. The authors hypothesize that these early alterations with processing visual and sensory information may place increased stress on the amygdala, leading to its overgrowth.

鈥淲e are getting closer to understanding why autism occurs by learning more about brain growth alterations early during development, in this case how amygdala growth may be influenced by early sensory processing difficulties and, conversely, how amygdala growth alterations may influence a baby鈥檚 interaction with their environment,鈥� said , professor of radiology in the UW School of Medicine and an adjunct professor of bioengineering.

As part of the IBIS Network, the UW has been involved in several studies over the years. In 2019, the multicenter research team received a five-year, $9.5 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to continue their efforts to determine whether brain imaging can help detect infants who are likely to go on to develop autism spectrum disorder.

The UW Autism Center established an infant clinic in 2017, which provides evaluations for infants and toddlers and support for caregivers. Just as with older children with autism, psychologists and behavior analysts help create treatment plans with clinic- and home-based activities.

The Autism Center has also evaluated sleep issues as part of both long-term research studies and in the clinical setting. A 2020 study led by the UW was the first to show links between growth in the hippocampus 鈥� a key part of the brain for learning and memory — and sleep problems in infants who are later diagnosed with autism.

鈥淚t is so exciting see the work of so many dedicated families and researchers over the last 16 years come together to reveal things we have never known before about how autism develops,鈥� said , director of the UW Autism Center. 鈥淏y assessing and monitoring development in infants who have a family history of autism, we can learn better ways to support caregivers and work on finding innovative ways to help infants reach their fullest potential.鈥�

The new study was funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and National Institute of Mental Health, Autism Speaks and the Simons Foundation.

Along with the UW and UNC at Chapel Hill, other participating institutions are Children鈥檚 Hospital of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Minnesota, New York University, the University of Texas at Dallas, Washington University, the University of Alberta and McGill University. The imaging sites are located in Seattle, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

For more information, contact Dager at srd@uw.edu or Estes at estesa@uw.edu.

Adapted from a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill press release.

Infants spend most of their first year of life asleep. Those hours are prime time for brain development, when neural connections form and sensory memories are encoded.

But when sleep is disrupted, as occurs more often among children with autism, brain development may be affected, too. New research led by the 天美影视传媒 finds that sleep problems in a baby鈥檚 first 12 months may not only precede an autism diagnosis, but also may be associated with altered growth trajectory in a key part of the brain, the hippocampus.

In a published May 7 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, researchers report that in a sample of more than 400 6- to 12-month-old infants, those who were later diagnosed with autism were more likely to have had difficulty falling asleep. This sleep difficulty was associated with altered growth trajectories in the hippocampus.

鈥淭he hippocampus is critical for learning and memory, and changes in the size of the hippocampus have been associated with poor sleep in adults and older children. However, this is the first study we are aware of to find an association in infants as young as 6 months of age,鈥� said lead author , a postdoctoral researcher at the UW Autism Center.

As many as 80% of children with autism spectrum disorder have sleep problems, said , director of the and senior author on the study. But much of the existing research, on infants with siblings who have autism, as well as the interventions designed to improve outcomes for children with autism, focus on behavior and cognition. With sleep such a critical need for children 鈥� and their parents 鈥� the researchers involved in the multicenter , or IBIS Network, believed there was more to be examined.

鈥淚n our clinical experience, parents have a lot of concerns about their children鈥檚 sleep, and in our work on early autism intervention, we observed that sleep problems were holding children and families back,鈥� said Estes, who is also a UW professor of speech and hearing sciences.

Researchers launched the study, Estes said, because they had questions about how sleep and autism were related. Do sleep problems exacerbate the symptoms of autism? Or is it the other way around 鈥� that autism symptoms lead to sleep problems? Or something different altogether?

鈥淚t could be that altered sleep is part-and-parcel of autism for some children. One clue is that behavioral interventions to improve sleep don鈥檛 work for all children with autism, even when their parents are doing everything just right. This suggests that there may be a biological component to sleep problems for some children with autism,鈥� Estes said.

To consider links among sleep, brain development and autism, researchers at the IBIS Network looked at MRI scans of 432 infants, surveyed parents about sleep patterns, and measured cognitive functioning using a standardized assessment. Researchers at four institutions 鈥� the UW, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Washington University in St. Louis and the Children鈥檚 Hospital of Philadelphia 鈥� evaluated the children at 6, 12 and 24 months of age and surveyed parents about their child鈥檚 sleep, all as part of a longer questionnaire covering infant behavior. Sleep-specific questions addressed how long it took for the child to fall asleep or to fall back asleep if awakened in the middle of the night, for example.

At the outset of the study, infants were classified according to their risk for developing autism: Those who were at higher risk of developing autism 鈥� about two-thirds of the study sample 鈥� 聽had an older sibling who had already been diagnosed. Infant siblings of children with autism have a 20 percent chance of developing autism spectrum disorder 鈥� a much higher risk than children in the general population.

A 2017 study by the IBIS Network found that infants who had an autistic older sibling and who also showed expanded cortical surface area at 6 and 12 months of age were more likely to be diagnosed with autism compared with infants without those indicators.

In the current study, 127 of the 432 infants were identified as 鈥渓ow risk鈥� at the time the MRI scans were taken because they had no family history of autism. They later evaluated all the participants at 24 months of age to determine whether they had developed autism. Of the roughly 300 children originally considered 鈥渉igh familial risk,鈥� 71 were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at that age.

Those results allowed researchers to re-examine previously collected longitudinal brain scans and behavioral data and identify some patterns. Problems with sleep were more common among the infants later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, as were larger hippocampi. No other subcortical brain structures were affected, including the amygdala, which is responsible for certain emotions and aspects of memory, or the thalamus, a signal transmitter from the spinal cord to the cerebral cortex.

The UW-led sleep study is the first to show links between hippocampal growth and sleep problems in infants who are later diagnosed with autism.

Other studies have found that 鈥渙vergrowth鈥� in different brain structures among infants who go on to develop those larger structures has been associated, at different stages of development, with social, language and behavioral aspects of autism.

While the UW sleep study found a pattern of larger hippocampal volume, and more frequent sleep problems, among infants who went on to be diagnosed with autism, what isn鈥檛 yet known is whether there is a causal relationship. Studying a broader range of sleep patterns in this population or of the hippocampus in particular may help determine why sleep difficulties are so prevalent and how they impact early development in children with autism spectrum disorder.

鈥淥ur findings are just the beginning 鈥� they place a spotlight on a certain period of development and a particular brain structure but leave many open questions to be explored in future research,鈥� MacDuffie said.

A focus on early assessment and diagnosis prompted the UW Autism Center to establish an infant clinic in 2017. The clinic provides evaluations for infants and toddlers, along with psychologists and behavior analysts to create a treatment plan with clinic- and home-based activities 鈥� just as would happen with older children.

The UW Autism Center has evaluated sleep issues as part of both long-term research studies and in the clinical setting, as part of behavioral intervention.

鈥淚f kids aren鈥檛 sleeping, parents aren鈥檛 sleeping, and that means sleep problems are an important focus for research and treatment,鈥� said MacDuffie.

The authors note that while parents reported more sleep difficulties among infants who developed autism compared to those who did not, the differences were very subtle and only observed when looking at group averages across hundreds of infants. Sleep patterns in the first years of life change rapidly as infants transition from sleeping around the clock to a more adult-like sleep/wake cycle. Until further research is completed, Estes said, it is not possible to interpret challenges with sleep as an early sign of increased risk for autism.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, Autism Speaks and the Simons Foundation. , professor of radiology at the UW School of Medicine and , research scientist at the UW Autism Center, were co-authors. Additional co-authors, all at IBIS Network institutions, were , , and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; , now at the James S. McDonnell Foundation; at the Children鈥檚 Hospital of Philadelphia; and at the University of Minnesota; at the University of Texas at Dallas; at Washington University in St. Louis; and at the University of Alberta.

###

For more information, contact Estes at estesa@uw.edu.

Andrew Nestingen, Scandinavian Studies chair, receives Finnish knighthood

, professor and chair of the UW Department of Scandinavian Studies, has been awarded a knighthood by the government of Finland.

Finnish Consul General Stefan Lindstr枚m awarded Nestingen the , on behalf of the country’s president, Sauli Niinist枚, in a December ceremony at Allen Library.

Matti Suokko, Finland’s honorary consul for Washington state, said such honors “recognize the work of men and women who represent the interests of Finland and its people and culture in their local communities,” adding, “Andy leads a department that has become a cornerstone of the Finnish community in Seattle.”

Nestingen, whose research focuses on Finnish literature and culture as well as Nordic cinema and crime fiction, first visited Finland as an exchange student 30 years ago.

In the ceremony, Lindstrom said, “Andy’s trailblazing leadership of Scandinavian Studies is held in high esteem by Finland and other Nordic countries. It is a question of promoting Finnish and Nordic values 鈥� and in this case, what happens in Finland doesn’t stay in Finland.”

Read more on the department .

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Society of General Physiologists names new award for UW physiologist Sharona Gordon

The has announced a new annual award named for , professor of physiology and biophysics and the UW School of Medicine’s associate dean for research and graduate education.

The new award recognizes the contributions Gordon has made “in changing the scientific environment, including establishing standards of equity in the peer review process during her time as editor-in-chief of the Journal of General Physiology.” Gordon also developed mentoring networks for early-career scientists, provided information on harassment in academia and worked to reduce inequities in the scientific community.

The new Sharona Gordon Award will be given each year to recognize an individual showing “extraordinary commitment to promoting equity and inclusivity in the physiology and biophysics community.”

The first winner of the award, announced Feb. 16, is , a professor of biophysics at Johns Hopkins University.

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Dr. Christoph Lee, professor of radiology, receives $4.5 million NIH award to extend research time

, MD, professor of radiology in the UW School of Medicine, will receive a $4.5 million Method to Extend Research Time award 鈥� MERIT for short 鈥� for up to seven years from the .

Lee is a faculty member with the in the . His research project is titled “Artificial intelligence for improved breast cancer screening accuracy: External validation, refinement, and clinical translation.” The research addresses the human limitations of mammography interpretation, which contribute to missed cancers and false positive exams.

The award supports early-stage investigators who the NIH has found superior in research and productivity. Such awards have the effect of extending the time and support of a Research Project Grant, called an , converting it to what’s termed an , for five years of support with opportunities to apply for two additional years.

The NIH typically chooses only eight proposals each year to extend in this way. Lee’s is the first MERIT award for the Department of Radiology.

UW Notebook is a section of the UW News site dedicated to telling stories of the good work done by faculty and staff at the 天美影视传媒. Read all posts here.

A multicenter research team that includes the 天美影视传媒 Autism Center has received a five-year, $9.5 million grant to determine whether brain imaging can help detect infants who are likely to go on to develop autism spectrum disorder.聽 Led by Washington University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the research network of eight institutions received the grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health.

The new grant supports the continued efforts of researchers in the , or IBIS, network. Scientists will scan the brains of 250 children who have an older sibling with autism, looking for differences that predict which high-risk children are more, and less, likely to develop the condition.

鈥淥ur studies have identified brain alterations in high-risk infants at 6 months of age that can predict a later autism diagnosis,鈥� said professor of radiology at the 天美影视传媒 School of Medicine and principal investigator at the UW. 鈥淣ow we are going to work with a new group of families to confirm whether our initial findings can be replicated.鈥�

Infant siblings of children with autism have a 20 percent chance of developing autism spectrum disorder themselves 鈥� a much higher risk than children in the general population.聽 Researchers believe that if brain scans can accurately identify which infants are at highest risk, then careful assessment over the first two years of life could detect behavioral symptoms as soon as they emerge. This would allow interventions to begin sooner and improve those children’s outcomes.

IBIS researchers published in 2017, which showed that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) correctly identified 80% of babies who went on to be diagnosed with autism at age 2. They also correctly predicted more than 90% of babies who subsequently did not receive that diagnosis.

鈥淭hese imaging findings are very exciting and, if replicated, can allow much earlier diagnosis of autism,” said Dager.

The , part of the Center on Human Development and Disability, has long studied the signs of autism and the effectiveness of intervention strategies, and has been involved with IBIS since its inception.

鈥淲e have learned so much from the children and families in the IBIS studies. We understand much more about the way autism symptoms unfold in infants with autism risk, starting with subtle early sensory-motor signs and developing into social communication and repetitive behavior in the second year of life,鈥� said , director of the UW Autism Center, research professor of speech and hearing sciences, and co-lead investigator of the IBIS study in Seattle. 鈥淭hese brain findings in the first year of life could be game-changers if the findings hold up. They could allow us to approach autism in a new way, before symptoms emerge.鈥�

As parents from around the country brought younger and younger children to be evaluated at the UW, the UW Autism Center . The clinic provides evaluations for infants and toddlers up to 24 months of age, along with psychologists and behavior analysts to create a treatment plan with clinic- and home-based activities 鈥� just as would happen with older children.

鈥淚BIS families told us how valuable it was to have assessments over the first years of life so they could be sure that any signs of autism would be caught as soon as possible,鈥� said Tanya St. John, a clinical psychologist at the UW Autism Center. 鈥淚t has been gratifying to bring these services to families in the community, including people who may not have a family history of autism but who just have questions about their infant鈥檚 development. Our team has been able to see these young children quickly and get their parents the information and support they need.鈥�

For the new study, babies will undergo MRI scans while asleep. Those tests will be performed when the infants are 6 and 12 months old, to analyze both the brain鈥檚 structure and its functional connections. Infants also will be evaluated for language development, repetitive behaviors, social responsiveness and other behaviors that may, in the future, help understand how autism unfolds in the first year of life.

鈥淥ur goal is to improve outcomes for infants at highest risk,鈥� said Estes. 鈥淚ntervention that starts before children fall far behind in development, and perhaps before symptoms become clear, might prevent many problems faced by families today.鈥�

Along with the UW, Washington University and the University of North Carolina, other institutions involved are Children鈥檚 Hospital of Philadelphia, the University of Minnesota, New York University, the University of Alberta and McGill University. Families participating in the study must travel to the IBIS screening site nearest their hometowns. The imaging sites are located in Seattle, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Chapel Hill, N.C., and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

To learn more about the IBIS study in Seattle, contact uwautism@uw.edu.

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Adapted from a Washington University news release.

Researchers from the 天美影视传媒 were part of led by the University of North Carolina to use MRI to measure the brains of “low-risk” infants, with no family history of autism, and “high-risk” infants who had at least one autistic older sibling. A computer algorithm was then used to predict autism before clinically diagnosable behaviors set in. was published Feb. 15 in the journal .

This is the first study to show that it is possible to use brain biomarkers to identify which infants in a high-risk pool 鈥� that is, those having an older sibling with autism 鈥� will be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, at 24 months of age.

“Typically, the earliest we can reliably diagnose autism in a child is age 2, when there are consistent behavioral symptoms, and due to health access disparities the average age of diagnosis in the U.S. is actually age 4,” said co-author and UW professor of speech and hearing sciences , who is also director of the and a research affiliate at the UW , or CHDD. “But in our study, brain imaging biomarkers at 6 and 12 months were able to identify babies who would be later diagnosed with ASD.”

The predictive power of the team’s findings may inform the development of a diagnostic tool for ASD that could be used in the first year of life, before behavioral symptoms have emerged.

“We don’t have such a tool yet,” said Estes. “But if we did, parents of high-risk infants wouldn’t need to wait for a diagnosis of ASD at 2, 3 or even 4 years and researchers could start developing interventions to prevent these children from falling behind in social and communication skills.”

People with ASD 鈥� which includes 3 million people in the United States 鈥� have characteristic social communication deficits and demonstrate a range of ritualistic, repetitive and stereotyped behaviors. In the United States, it is estimated that up to one out of 68 babies develops autism. But for infants with an autistic older sibling, the risk may be as high as one out of every five births.

This research project included hundreds of children from across the country and was led by researchers at four clinical sites across the United States: the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, UW, Washington University in St. Louis and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Other key collaborators are at the Montreal Neurological Institute, the University of Alberta and New York University.

“We have wonderful, dedicated families involved in this study,” said , a UW professor of radiology and associate director of the CHDD, who led the study at the UW. “They have been willing to travel long distances to our research site and then stay up until late at night so we can collect brain imaging data on their sleeping children. The families also return for follow-up visits so we can measure how their child’s brain grows over time. We could not have made these discoveries without their wholehearted participation.”

Researchers obtained MRI scans of children while they were sleeping at 6, 12 and 24 months of age. The study also assessed behavior and intellectual ability at each visit, using criteria developed by Estes and her team. They found that the babies who developed autism experienced a hyper-expansion of brain surface area from 6 to 12 months, as compared to babies who had an older sibling with autism but did not themselves show evidence of autism at 24 months of age. Increased surface area growth rate in the first year of life was linked to increased growth rate of brain volume in the second year of life. Brain overgrowth was tied to the emergence of autistic social deficits in the second year.

The researchers input these data 鈥� MRI calculations of brain volume, surface area, and cortical thickness at 6 and 12 months of age, as well as sex of the infants 鈥� into a computer program, asking it to classify babies most likely to meet ASD criteria at 24 months of age. The program developed the best algorithm to accomplish this, and the researchers applied the algorithm to a separate set of study participants.

Researchers found that, among infants with an older ASD sibling, the brain differences at 6 and 12 months of age successfully identified 80 percent of those infants who would be clinically diagnosed with autism at 24 months of age.

If these findings could form the basis for a “pre-symptomatic” diagnosis of ASD, health care professionals could intervene even earlier.

“By the time ASD is diagnosed at 2 to 4 years, often children have already fallen behind their peers in terms of social skills, communication and language,” said Estes, who directs behavioral evaluations for the network. “Once you’ve missed those developmental milestones, catching up is a struggle for many and nearly impossible for some.”

Research could then begin to examine interventions on children during a period before the syndrome is present and when the brain is most malleable.聽 Such interventions may have a greater chance of improving outcomes than treatments started after diagnosis.

“Our hope is that early intervention 鈥� before age 2 鈥� can change the clinical course of those children whose brain development has gone awry and help them acquire skills that they would otherwise struggle to achieve,” said Dager.

The research team has gathered additional behavioral and brain imaging data on these infants and children 鈥� such as changes in blood flow in the brain and the movement of water along networks 鈥� to understand how brain connectivity and neural activity may differ between high-risk children who do and don’t develop autism. In a published Jan. 6 in , the researchers identified specific brain regions that may be important for acquiring an early social behavior called joint attention, which is orienting attention toward an object after another person points to it.

“These longitudinal imaging studies, which follow the same infants聽 as they grow older, are really starting to hone in on critical brain developmental processes that can distinguish children who go on to develop ASD and those who do not,” said Dager. “We hope these ongoing efforts will lead to additional biomarkers, which could provide the basis for early, pre-symptomatic diagnosis and serve also to guide individualized interventions to help these kids from falling behind their peers.”

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, and the .

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For more information, contact Estes at 206-543-1051 or estesa@uw.edu and Dager at 206-616-1558 or srd@uw.edu.

Grant numbers: HD055741, HD003110, R01 MH093510, 6020, 140209.

Adapted from by the UNC news office.