The family of retired Hasbro chairman and CEO Alan Hassenfeld gave the university $ 12.5 million to establish the institute , which brings together researchers , clinicians , and child health experts from Brown ’ s School of Public Health and Warren Alpert Medical School , Hasbro Children ’ s Hospital , Women & Infants Hospital , and community organizations .
Just five years later , the Hassenfeld Institute already had made a significant impact . Based on early projects , families affected by autism are learning more about their child ’ s specific diagnosis and what treatments might be available ; 730 children with asthma in high-risk areas are being screened for severity and offered services based on their needs ; and thousands of children from low-income communities across Rhode Island have participated in free summer camp programs that emphasize physical activity and include healthy lunches .
All of these programs are engineered for exponential influence : they are being studied and refined so that the results can help countless more children worldwide .
“ The institute has done exactly what we intended for it to do — to seamlessly coordinate our collective system-wide efforts to address these urgent children ’ s health challenges ,” says Phyllis Dennery , MD , chair of pediatrics at the medical school , pediatrician-in-chief at Hasbro , and a member of the institute ’ s executive committee .
Patrick Vivier , MD , PhD , a public health and medicine professor at Brown who specializes in pediatrics and was a member of the executive committee until late last year , says the innovative ways the institute has tackled its goals over its first half-decade have made an immediate impact for kids in Rhode Island .
“ While it ’ s exciting to be doing cutting-edge research that will eventually have large-scale applications , it ’ s also very gratifying to get out in the community and see how our programs are helping families right now ,” Vivier says .
AUTISM RESEARCH WITH AN IMPACT
One of the institute ’ s signature projects is its Autism Initiative , which aims to identify risk factors for autism spectrum disorder ( ASD ) during the earliest days of life , predict outcomes , and guide treatment strategies for individual kids .
Brown professors Stephen Sheinkopf , PhD , and Eric Morrow , MD ,
PhD , are coleaders of the initiative who study autism from intersecting angles . For example , they co-authored a study published in 2020 that found that girls with autism tend to be diagnosed later than boys , and that people with autism frequently have additional psychiatric and medical conditions .
A new $ 4.1-million federal grant is allowing Sheinkopf to assess gaps in autism detection by analyzing infant cries and neonatal measures of neurobehavior . “ The method we use to measure and quantify infant acoustics was developed through a unique collaboration with The Warren Alpert Medical School , the School of Engineering at Brown , and our psychiatry department ,” Sheinkopf says . “ We now have a tool that informs our work as well as that of other researchers .”
Recognizing the influence of genetics on the development of autism , Morrow ’ s research team is studying the genetic subtypes of autism and also implementing genetic testing in doctors ’ offices .
Based on the efforts of a fellow Autism Initiative member Daniel Moreno De Luca , MD , MsC , a new clinic at Bradley Hospital not only offers genetic testing to all families with a new diagnosis of autism , but also provides expert consultation on how to use genetics results to tailor clinical management , a prime example of personalized medicine .
After a recent study done with the Rhode Island Consortium for Autism Research and Treatment found that only a small percentage of people diagnosed with autism report receiving recommended genetic tests , Moreno De Luca established the Genomic Psychiatry Consultation Service , which provides clinical recommendations based on genetic testing results , and the Genetic Counseling Service , which performs genetic testing for people with ASD and neurodevelopmental disorders .
The autism genetics clinic is one of just a few such centers in the country , according to Morrow . “ You ’ ll hear the term ‘ bench to bedside ’ to describe what we ’ re doing ,” he says . “ For example , we ’ re using genetics to enhance the biomedical science and the translational science , the treatment development . At the same time , we are studying the most effective ways to implement genetic testing in the clinic and bringing that to the community as well .”
LOCAL IMPACT WITH NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE
With asthma reported in 9.8 percent of children in Rhode Island compared with a national average of 8.5 percent , Hassenfeld leaders identified early on that asthma was a challenge where they could
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