Washington, DC - The Institute of Medicine (IOM) last Friday released an online prepublication of the April 18-19 workshop Autism and the Environment, demonstrating a marked shift in the research agenda from heritability factors to toxic environmental exposures in the development of autism. "The National Autism Association (NAA) and SafeMinds have long called for a paradigm shift from children with autism are genetically defective to children with autism are sick and treatable. Now, we have high hopes that the recognition of the role environmental factors (including vaccines and heavy metals) play in the development of autism will lead to effective treatments for hundreds of thousands with autism and prevention for susceptible infants," said Laura Bono, NAA and SafeMinds Board Member, IOM Planning Committee member and presenter at the workshop.

In response to a request from the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, the two-day workshop brought together the nation's leaders in autism research from government agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Autism community advocates from SafeMinds, NAA and Autism Speaks were also invited participants of the workshop, plus scientists from Harvard, the MIND Institute, Columbia University, and more. The experts discussed strategies to develop a framework for a broad research agenda focusing on the potential relationship between autism and environmental exposures.

Presentations emphasized the urgency of need to combat the growing national health crisis of autism and focused on the mechanisms by which environmental factors (including vaccines) such as chemicals, infectious agents, or physiological or psychological stress can affect the neurodevelopment of children. In addition, discussions addressed the infrastructure needs for pursuing the identified research opportunities-tools, technologies, and partnerships.

In his introductory remarks, Dr. William Raub, Science Advisor to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt, expressed his hopes that the workshop would prove to be an important milestone in autism research. He stated: "The planning committee recognized that vaccine constituents, especially organic chemicals used as preservatives or adjuvants, obviously qualify as environmental agents that warrant attention. . . . . Other aspects of the autism challenge deserve similar attention, especially the paucity of effective treatments."

Workshop participants identified a broad range of research priorities, including: biomarkers for diagnosis and treatment of differing subtypes of autism; rigorous analysis of effective treatments; a comparison of the health outcomes of vaccinated vs. unvaccinated children, immune system and anti-viral therapies, and the need for more effective chelators. The full list is included as an appendix to the proceedings.

Mark Blaxill, SafeMinds Vice President, member of the IOM Planning Committee and an invited workshop participant said, "Our scientific leadership is increasingly realizing that ongoing epidemic denial, the bizarre idea that current autism rates have been with us forever, and myopic insistence that autism is an inherited untreatable disorder, are inconsistent with the evidence and disciplined scientific thought. They are certainly no longer acceptable as guiding principles for policy."

SafeMinds Executive Director Sallie Bernard delivered a presentation focusing on research opportunities. Ms. Bernard called for an "overcorrection" of environmental research funding to make up for the last 15 years of funding going mostly to genetics. She outlined many of the small-scale studies funded by SafeMinds since 2000 and said, "Now we are at the stage where we would like to see these types of ideas go to the next level and, for that, we need the public side of the public-private partnership."

In her presentation, NAA and SafeMinds Board Member Lyn Redwood discussed the power of public- private partnerships in solving the epidemic of autism such as "autism advisory boards, integration panels, the establishment of shared research inventories, and community-based and -driven research initiatives" where parents as stakeholders have their status elevated and their voices heard. "The urgency of this mission cannot be overstated," said Ms. Redwood. "Treatments, especially those aimed are targeting underlying medical abnormalities, are more effective if begun in earnest as early as possible. The cost of this epidemic and its devastating impact on families is so great that we must do all we can to prevent new cases."

Dr. Alan Leshner, publisher of the journal Science, concluded the workshop by noting the importance of redirecting the research agenda: "I think this has been spectacular and I hope I am right. I would repeat the comment I made fairly glibly before, that is, this is a very important start, and if we don't do something, then shame on us."

The workshop prepublication can be downloaded at http://www.iom.edu/AutismProceedings

SafeMinds is pleased to welcome Scott Laster and Gayle DeLong to the SafeMinds board of directors.

Scott Laster has worked as an entrepreneur and engineer in the telecommunications industry for 20 years. He received an engineering degree with Highest Honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Scott became involved in autism research when his son, Luke, was diagnosed with autism in 2005. With the biomedical interventions developed through close cooperation between parent-advocacy organizations and university researchers, Luke has significantly improved. Luke's struggles, and subsequent improvement, have inspired Scott to advocate for policy initiatives to prevent other children from being damaged by medical exposure to mercury and for expansion of research into effective treatments for autism. Scott lives in the Atlanta area with his wife and two sons.

Dr. Gayle DeLong is a parent of two girls with autism. Starting in May 2005, her family began biomedical interventions to treat the girls' illness. Both girls have benefited greatly from supplements, diet, chelation, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Gayle holds a Ph.D. in international business and finance from New York University. She teaches international finance at Baruch College in New York. She is a district leader of Advocates for Children's Health Affected by Mercury Poisoning (A-CHAMP) and an on-going supporter of Sensible Action for Ending Mercury-Induced Neurological Disorders (SafeMinds). She has attended several rallies in Washington, DC to protest mercury in vaccines and spoke against adding vaccines to New Jersey's mandated schedule at a public hearing in Trenton, NJ. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Morristown, NJ.

THE GOAL:

* 100 Days to * Raise $100,000 with * 100% going to autism research

What would you do with 100 wishes?

At SafeMinds . . . we wish to find a cure for autism. Won't you help?

The number of autism cases are growing -- one in 150 children are now affected. This means the wish lists are growing too. You help make wishes come true by helping us raise critical dollars for autism research between now and December 31, 2007 through this campaign.

Donate $100, 100 dimes, 100 pennies - whatever you can. Please consider asking family and friends to support our campaign as well. All donations are tax-deductible.

Here is how you can help:

* Launch a personal fundraising page here at www.firstgiving.com/SafeMinds and share that page with friends and family to help raise awareness and funds.
* Mail a check to SafeMinds at 254 Trickum Creek Road, Tyrone, GA 30290
* Securely donate online at our website

For questions about additional fundraising ideas, please contact Elizabeth Kilpatrick at eksafeminds@gmail.com.

The Age of Autism is the nation's first daily Web newspaper for the environmental-biomedical community - those who believe the autism epidemic is a health crisis that requires urgent action; that autism is an environmentally induced illness, that it is treatable, and that children can recover.

Visit the Age of Autism website to read more.

Tom Bernard, the father of a child with autism, is publishing his first book, Wall and Mean. Proceeds from the sale of the book will benefit SafeMinds and Autism Speaks.

Book Description

"Captures the tone and feel of Wall Street better than anything I've ever read. A snapshot of the trader's soul."-Michael Lewis

Wholesome Pennsylvania kid and Wall Street phenom George Wilhelm is poised to become one of the most successful young bond traders in the business. A gambler at heart, George has turned his old poker skills into big profits on the Emerging Markets desk. Now those same skills have got him trying to out-trade the sports bookies in Vegas, and George's hard-won security is in jeopardy as he racks up a ruinous gambling debt. When the Brooklyn mafia sends two hitmen to collect, things turn ugly in a hurry: these boys have clearly never heard of a fair fight. George must scramble to keep his pursuers away from the bank and his family, while risking everything on an all-or-nothing trade. Set in the glitter and grime of New York City during the bond-market boom of 1993, Wall and Mean is a fast- paced and surprising debut from a veteran of The Street.

Click here to order your copy now.

Support SafeMinds today. Every donation makes an impact. Click here to make a donation.

Please join a new Yahoo group called MIA-Mercury Induced Autism. The goal in the formation of this list was to create a resource where parents, grandparents, and anyone whose life has been impacted by mercury induced autism could go to seek information or find support.

To join the discussion please click here.