Autism Secondary Data Analysis Research Program

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This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding under the Autism Secondary Data Analysis Research (SDAR) Program. This program supports applied Maternal and Child Health (MCH) research that exclusively utilizes the secondary analysis of existing national databases and/or administrative records to determine the evidence-based practices for interventions to improve the physical and behavioral health of children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other Developmental Disabilities (DD), Programs should address ASD/DD across the lifespan, with a focus on addressing the needs of underserved populations for whom there is limited evidence of the effectiveness of interventions, and limited access to screening, diagnosis, and treatment for ASD/DD.2 HRSA supports programs to improve the quality of care for those diagnosed with ASD/DD through education, early detection, and intervention. More specifically, the Autism SDAR program accelerates the pace of research by providing researchers with the opportunity to pose new research questions, test hypotheses, challenge existing paradigms or clinical practices, and explore the feasibility of interventions using existing data sets. The use of existing data sets helps researchers obtain results more efficiently, at a lower cost. Innovative methods (e.g., meta-analyses) and secondary analysis of existing national databases and/or administrative records are encouraged (e.g., National Survey of Children’s Health (HRSA), National Database for Autism Research (National Institutes of Health (NIH)), Medicaid (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services), National Health Interview Survey (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)) and Mental Health Research Network Database (NIH)). The Autism SDAR program’s goals and objectives are to: • Generate new evidence to address the needs of underserved ASD/DD populations3 for whom there is limited evidence of the effectiveness of interventions, and limited access to screening, diagnosis, and treatment for ASD/DD; • Contribute to a broad public health impact by improving patient engagement and care delivery through studies that are generalizable and replicable across underserved ASD/DD populations; • Develop and implement a plan to disseminate applied and/or translational research through at least two peer-reviewed research articles related to the project (e.g., findings on research planning, participant recruitment, methods, implementation and/or research challenges, preliminary or unexpected research findings, in addition to final research findings) and to scientific, professional, lay audiences, and federal partners.

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