Autism Field-Initiated Innovative Research Studies (Autism FIRST)

This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding under the FY 2024 Autism Field-Initiated Innovative Research Studies (Autism FIRST) program. The purpose of the Autism FIRST program is to support empirical research that advances the evidence on early screening and interventions to improve the health and well-being of children, adolescents, and young adults with autism and other developmental disabilities (DD) across the lifespan. The Autism FIRST program aims to achieve this goal by testing the implementation of new and/or innovative strategies that address critical issues affecting the health and receipt of related health services among children, adolescents, and young adults with autism/DD, with a special focus on addressing the needs of underserved populations. The Autism FIRST program objectives to be accomplished during the period of performance are to: • Generate new evidence to address the needs of underserved autistic/DD populations for whom there is limited evidence of the effectiveness of interventions, and limited access to screening, diagnosis, and treatment for autism/DD; • Conduct and disseminate findings from applied and/or translational research on critical and emerging autism/DD issues using a research design including collection of primary data among underserved populations, with a special focus on children, adolescents, and young adults up to the age of 26. • Inform public health efforts to improve delivery of health and related services through studies that are generalizable and replicable for underserved autism/DD populations; and • Align research with MCHB’s Strategic Research Issues and Blueprint for Change, with an emphasis on promoting health equity, family and child well-being and quality of life, and access to services; For more details, see Program Requirements and Expectations