NIH prepares to launch new research into autism causes, a Trump priority

The National Institutes of Health is planning a new, multimillion-dollar research program examining the causes of autism and the spike in U.S. diagnoses, according to three people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe in-progress discussions.

NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, principal deputy director Matthew J. Memoli and other agency officials have discussed a broad agenda to investigate autism spectrum disorders. The effort could involve launching a public competition intended to jump-start research ideas and interest, or a more traditional approach of awarding research grants, the people said. NIH may purchase additional data compiled by outside researchers, the people said.

NIH did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The research plan, which is being finalized, would focus on understanding causes behind the rise of childhood autism diagnoses, which have increased more than fourfold in the past two decades and have emerged as a top health priority of the Trump administration.

It would also delve into an issue that has been complicated by the long-lasting effects of a widely discredited 1998 research study that linked measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccines to autism. While the study was retracted – and more than two dozen other studies into MMR vaccines have shown the immunizations do not increase the risk of autism – about a quarter of Americans continue to believe there is a connection, and President Donald Trump, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and some vocal advocacy groups have refused to rule it out.

Public health experts and lawmakers have warned any new research into autism, if not well-planned and carefully executed, could undercut public health by resurrecting the debunked link between immunizations and autism and further exacerbate the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases.

“Regardless of the direction they’re going to go, it’s important that this is super-transparent,” said Patricia Areán, a clinical researcher who directed a division of the National Institute of Mental Health and worked on issues such as patient education before leaving NIH last month. “Anything that smacks of ‘vaccines are involved’ could result in parents not vaccinating their children.”

Focusing additional autism research on settled questions about vaccines also would waste federal resources, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., the chairman of the Senate health committee, told Bhattacharya in a hearing last month.

“There’s an opportunity cost if we continue to plow the barren ground of something which is already been validated multiple times … that there is not a connection between vaccination and autism,” said Cassidy, who added that he supports more research into the causes of autism. “If we’re pissing away money over here, that’s less money that we have to actually go after the true reason.”

About 1 in 36 children in 2020 were diagnosed with autism, up from about 1 in 150 in 2000, researchers found. Some experts have said the rise in diagnoses reflects more awareness of the condition, which can manifest in communication difficulties and other neurological issues, but that other genetic and environmental factors could be aspects, too.

Trump and Kennedy both campaigned on the issue during their prior presidential campaigns, calling for more study into autism’s causes. Trump in February established the Make America Healthy Again Commission, led by Kennedy, which instructs administration officials to research childhood diseases and disorders .

The Trump administration “is prioritizing gold-standard research and increasing transparency to gain new insights to aid those with (autism spectrum disorder),” the president wrote in a proclamation Wednesday, which was World Autism Awareness Day.

Kennedy, who was a longtime anti-vaccine activist before being elevated as the nation’s top health official in February, has denied being anti-vaccine and said he is seeking more data. He has overseen several efforts to investigate autism, including a planned study at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that would focus on the potential role of vaccines. Kennedy’s team has tapped a vaccine skeptic who has promoted false claims about the connection between immunizations and autism to study the issue.

HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

NIH has previously announced challenges and prizes to spark research, such as a $500,000 competition in 2022 to predict which patients who had contracted COVID-19 would be most susceptible to developing long covid. The nearly $50 billion research agency has faced pressure from lawmakers and scientists for its significant funding slowdown under the Trump administration, with NIH grant awards lagging more than $3 billion last year’s pace. Researchers have said that they are waiting on crucial funding to resume studies into issues such as cancer, heart disease and mental health.

Trump officials have said that they have needed time to transition to a new leadership team and to review grants issued under the Biden administration. They have also begun to implement their own agenda, such as canceling research into transgender health and other issues targeted by the White House.

Bhattacharya, a Stanford-trained physician and economist, testified during his Senate confirmation hearing last month that he “fully” supported children being vaccinated against vaccine-preventable diseases, and that he did not “generally believe” that there is a link between vaccines and autism. But he said that he was open to further research on questions about vaccines and autism, saying that additional data could help settle questions and reassure skeptics.

Bhattacharya also said investigating the rise in autism cases was a public health imperative.

“I don’t think any scientist really knows the cause of it,” Bhattacharya testified, adding he would support a “broad scientific agenda, based on data, to get an answer to that.”

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told Bhattacharya that he supported further research into autism and vaccines.

“It doesn’t mean we need 99% of the NIH budget on autism and vaccines, but certainly I think we have room to have another study to try to convince those who are hesitant,” Paul said.

Democrats said they were frustrated the Trump administration would not rule out further study of vaccines and autism.

“For parents out there who may think that vaccines have something to do with autism, there is no scientific evidence that it does,” said Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H. “It disappoints me greatly that neither you, nor the secretary now of Health and Human Services, are willing to say that declaratively and strongly.”