FSU College of Medicine 2018 annual report 2019 Annual Report | Page 47

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A N N U A L
R E P O R T
45
A LEADER IN AUTISM
EARLY INTERVENTION
M I C H A E L ’ S L A S T I N G I M P A C T
Hurricane Michael ravaged the Florida Panhandle,
elementary students who are being Baker Acted. We’ve
flattening nearly everything in its wake. As communities never before addressed those kinds of things,” said Beitsch.
continue to rebuild for years to come, some of their “It’s not what you’d normally think about as environment,
most vulnerable residents are facing long-lasting health but it’s part of the study.”
implications that aren’t so visible.
Les Beitsch, chair of the Department of
is partnering with FSU Associate care. Beitsch and his team are taking the research a step further,
Professor of Geography Christopher by looking at a combination of environmental factors that
Uejio and researchers from Tulane compound the stress and trauma and pose further health risks.
birth outcomes and children in the Florida Panhandle.
For example, exposure to carbon monoxide and respiratory
toxins from harmful algae blooms may have major health
implications for pregnant women and their babies. During
The team received a $400,000 NIH grant in August. prolonged power outages, many households rely on generators,
“The project is funded by the National Institute of which require proper ventilation to reduce the risk of carbon
Environmental Sciences, so environmental factors are very monoxide exposure. After Hurricane Irma in 2017, the CDC
important,” said Beitsch. reported 16 deaths related to carbon monoxide poisoning,
“One of those is the stress impact from the hurricane
accounting for 12.4% of the hurricane-related deaths. Carbon
and the things you see related to that. With structural monoxide poisoning during pregnancy has been associated with
damage and difficult living environments, mental health fetal demise, severe neurological complications, intrauterine
is dramatically affected. And what we’re seeing in the growth retardation, preterm delivery and birth defects.
Panhandle are some really substantial mental health
outcomes for children.”
The Florida Mental Health Act, commonly known as the
“There’s many more people who are exposed than who
die, so we’re trying to figure out the best way to measure
that,” said Beitsch. “We’re looking into using some kind of
Baker Act, is a law that – among other provisions – allows proxy, like generator density in certain areas, using satellite
for people who are impaired because of mental illness to be imaging and other tools through our partnership with the
retained at a facility for up to 72 hours. Department of Geography.”
“Every state has a Baker Act equivalent to allow the
Wetherby is targeting younger children
than ever before. With $3 million from
the NIH, she’s now validating the
found to increase the risk of having a low-birthweight baby
due to stress, emotional trauma and decreased access to health
Michael’s impacts on pregnant women,
disorder before it unfolds as a lifelong disability, Amy
Floods, hurricanes and other natural disasters have been
Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine,
University to learn more about Hurricane
In her continuing quest to detect signs of autism spectrum
The research team hopes the study’s findings can help
confinement of someone who is a danger to themselves or improve health outcomes after similar catastrophic events in
others. Since the hurricane in Bay County, they’re having the future.
effectiveness of a new automated online
tool – which will screen children at
well-child doctor visits starting at age 9
months.
The tool, developed by Wetherby’s team, is the SoCo
CheckUp. “SoCo” stands for social communication, which is
a core feature of autism.
“This is a very exciting study,” said Wetherby, a
Distinguished Research Professor at FSU and director
of the College of Medicine’s Autism Institute. “We will
be recruiting a new cohort of babies by 2 months of age,
conducting screening and surveillance with our new online
Baby Navigator tools, and then looking at outcomes of
autism or developmental delay at 24 months.”
This is a five-year project. In the 13 years since she joined
the College of Medicine faculty, Wetherby has brought in a
total of $68.9 million in 43 contracts and grants. In all, 58.9
percent of that funding came from federal agencies, including
the National Institutes of Health. Ten of those projects are
ongoing.
Also in 2019, Wetherby and her team received a Florida
TaxWatch Productivity Award. Their web-based Autism
Navigator and Baby Navigator programs were recognized
for making it easier for medical professionals and parents to
assess children’s communication skills.