Rutgers research
Archived article from Oct 20, 2003
Rutgers geneticist to battle autism with $3.7 million NIH grant
Linda Brzustowicz, an associate professor in the department of genetics, has been awarded a five-year, $3.7 million National Institutes of Health grant to investigate the genetic basis of autism. The disorder, which appears to be on the rise and has no known cure, is tied to a child’s early brain development and is usually diagnosed in the first three years of life.
Autistic children typically have difficulties with behavior, social interaction and communications skills, but there is a wide spectrum of symptoms and characteristics, expressed in combinations from extremely mild to quite severe. Researchers generally agree that multiple genes interact with each other to produce this range. An assortment of environmental factors is thought to be operating as well, conspiring with autism’s genetics to produce the disorder in its many forms.
A group of 150 New Jersey families will be selected for study by Brzustowicz and her colleagues at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. They are specifically looking for families that have both an autistic member and others who, while not autistic, exhibit traits associated with the illness such as difficulty with language skills.
“Our strategy is to examine the hereditary patterns of the individual characteristics that make up the spectrum of behaviors that constitute this disorder,” said Brzustowicz. “In doing so, we hope to be able to more easily find the genes that are linked to specific components, one at a time.”
Brzustowicz and her colleagues will also obtain 850 sets of previously collected and stored “trio” samples, consisting of specimens of genetic material from autistic individuals and their parents. This genetic material will be analyzed and compared — a child’s to each of the two parents — to more precisely define genes linked to autism.
“With this new federal funding, Linda Brzustowicz will lead the charge in our battle with a disorder that tragically affects so many individuals and their families,” said Philip Furmanski, executive vice president for academic affairs. “We hope that this research, and the new knowledge it provides, will pave the way to new therapies for this terrible affliction.”
For more information about the study, e-mail autism@biology.rutgers.edu
Rutgers-UMDNJ task force attacks obesity epidemic
There’s an epidemic emerging in America — obesity, a condition rife with serious consequences, including cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke, some forms of cancer and even premature death. Because of its accompanying social stigma, obesity also has significant psychological and economic consequences.
While many researchers at Rutgers and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey have been studying this growing health hazard, until recently no organized effort existed to coordinate their efforts. Two years ago, the New Jersey Obesity Group (NJOG) was formed through a program-enhancement grant from the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station.
Program leader Sue Shapses, associate professor of nutritional sciences at Cook College, says the obesity group has three major goals: research, outreach and training. “One of our goals is to increase obesity research in New Jersey by providing feasibility grants to researchers studying the causes, consequences, prevention and treatment of obesity,” Shapses says. The group also serves as a focal point for fund raising and academic-industry collaboration.
Increased awareness of the health hazards posed by obesity is the group’s second goal. “We want to develop and implement outreach efforts to treat obesity — to prevent weight gain, particularly among such high-risk groups as minorities and children,” she adds. The group also seeks to increase obesity awareness among professionals and health care workers in New Jersey and to improve education and treatment strategies.
Earlier this year, the group conducted a national conference on the link between obesity and diabetes and a symposium on the behavioral treatment of obesity. A second national conference on “diabesity” in America will take place Nov. 21 and 22 on the Cook campus. Salome Rao, a researcher in the nutritional sciences department and NJOG’s coordinator, assists in organizing educational events.
NJOG’s third goal is to provide more training opportunities for those involved in the fight against obesity. “Undergraduate and graduate students at Rutgers constitute a valuable resource for local industry,” Shapses says. Members of the group meet regularly to brainstorm collaborative research projects in areas such as metabolism and adipose biology, pediatric obesity, clinical aspects of adult obesity, and obesity prevention and outreach. Funded projects include: research on taste and weight loss, the obesity risk in young children and the effects of obesity surgery. Newer projects involve community obesity problems and food security.
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