February 18, 2005

MGH part of new Autism Treatment Network

The MGH recently helped establish the nation's first network of hospitals and physicians that supports collaborations to improve the treatment for autism. Called the Autism Treatment Network (ATN), this national, nonprofit organization includes physicians and health care practitioners from six leading medical centers - including the MGH - who will collaboratively evaluate the medical conditions present in young people with autism and determine best practices for their identification and treatment. ATN plans to create treatment guidelines that will be made available to physicians, researchers, parents, policy makers and others dedicated to enhancing autism care.

Autism is a complex developmental disability that affects the areas of social interaction and communication. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is one of the fastest growing childhood disorders in the United States, affecting as many as one in 166 children. Treatment and access to treatment for children with autism, however, remain inconsistent across the nation.

"ATN represents the start of a cooperative venture to study and create new treatments for autism," says Margaret Bauman, MD, of MassGeneral Hospital for Children. "It took focused leadership to bring together the many individual units studying children's cancers 30 years ago and have them cooperate in studying new treatments. Today there are dramatic improvements in the survival of children with cancers. Many people and programs are doing important research on mechanisms of childhood autism - but so far none have developed a strong collaboration among centers focused on treating medical conditions in a similar way that revolutionized the care of childhood cancer."

ATN will include regional centers of excellence where physicians will establish state-of-the-art care, conduct clinical research and mentor trainees. The initial treatment approach is based on a comprehensive model pioneered at the MGH, and the hospital also serves as the scientific coordinating center for the network. Other founding centers in the network include Baylor College of Medicine, Houston; Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland; Columbia University Medical Center, New York; Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon; and the University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle.

For more information, visit http://www.autismtreatmentnetwork.org.