# Component A:  CADDRE:  Study to Explore Early Development (SEED) 3

> **NIH ALLCDC U01** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · 2020 · $770,377

## Abstract

Project Summary
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that can cause severe lifelong impairment
for affected individuals. An increase in the prevalence of ASD has been documented worldwide, which has
major public health implications because of the substantial familial and societal resources required to provide
long-term services to those who are affected. Much remains to be discovered about the causes of ASD,
including risk and protective factors for its occurrence and presentation, as well as about phenotypic variations
and co-occurring conditions, and how these interact, in persons affected by ASD. In response to growing public
health concerns, the Children's Health Act of 2000 mandated CDC to establish ASD surveillance and research
programs that address the magnitude, incidence, and causes of ASD and related developmental disabilities.
The Centers for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Research and Epidemiology (CADDREs) were
established at six national sites (California, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania) to
fulfill this mandate and are currently carrying out the second phase of the Study to Explore Early Development
(SEED), a population-based case-control study. The objectives of SEED are to examine ASD phenotypic
variation, including clustering of core symptoms, cognitive status, and presence of co-morbidities; genetic
variation and gene-environment interaction (GxE); and infection, immune function, autoimmunity, hormonal
factors and maternal reproductive characteristics that may influence ASD occurrence or presentation. Data
collection for SEED includes assessments of development through standardized instruments and pre- and
perinatal health and environment via interviews, medical record review, self-administered questionnaires, and
biologic samples. As of December 2015, SEED 1 & 2 had completed data collection on 4652 families - 1341
with ASD, 1722 with other developmental disorders, and 1589 general population controls. This proposal
seeks to carry out SEED 3, enrolling 625 additional children in each study group. The combined greater
sample size will enable well-powered assessment of SEED hypotheses, particularly for phenotypic subgroups
and GxE interactions. Given the infrastructure in place at Colorado and the other CADDRE sites, and their
extensive experience successfully implementing SEED 1 & 2, SEED 3 can be quickly implemented in Colorado
and throughout the network, creating a combined SEED sample of clinical, risk factor, and biological
specimens and data on over 6500 families. SEED will be the largest study of ASD of its kind, making
significant contributions to our understanding of the complex autism phenotype and identifying potential risk
and protective factors for ASD to inform future development of interventions and treatments.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9953921
- **Project number:** 5U01DD001210-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
- **Principal Investigator:** CORDELIA ROBINSON
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** ALLCDC
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $770,377
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-07-01 → 2021-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9953921

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9953921, Component A:  CADDRE:  Study to Explore Early Development (SEED) 3 (5U01DD001210-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9953921. Licensed CC0.

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