Rhode Island Consortium for Autism Research and Treatment (RI-CART)

Thank you from all of us at Rhode Island Consortium for Autism Research and Treatment (RI-CART) for the many years of collaboration, research, partnership and advocacy on behalf of the autism community in RI. In 2009, a team of researchers came together to form RI-CART, and in 2013, RI-CART launched a unique state-wide research consortium project (a patient registry). Enrollment in that first RI-CART project ended in 2019. Since then, RI-CART affiliated researchers have launched several new research studies.

RI-CART Adolescent and Young Adult Study (RAYS) at Brown University

Brown University researchers, in conjunction with RI-CART, are conducting a study examining the challenges and problems that adolescents and young adults experience over the course of adolescence and young adulthood.

Contact the RAYS research team at 401-444-1913 or [email protected] to confirm if you are eligible to participate.

Adolescent Autism Spectrum Disorder Study

The current prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in American children is one in 36. Mood problems and disorders occur at a higher rate in autistic children and adolescents as compared to their neurotypical peers.  A research study at Bradley Hospital is seeking neurotypical peers and autistic youth, ages 11 to 17 years. The goal of the study is to assess brain mechanisms of depressive symptoms in autistic children and adolescents as compared to their neurotypical peers. Participants complete questionnaires, interviews, and a magnetic resonance imaging brain scan.  Families are compensated for their time and receive a picture of the child’s brain. 

Contact the study team at 401-432-1600, [email protected],  or via https://redcap.link/mristudy.   

Rhode Island Neurobehavioral Observation Study (RHINOS) at Women and Infants Hospital

The goal of this study is to learn about how behaviors observed in newborns relate to meeting developmental milestones during the first years of life.  You can participate if you are soon becoming a parent to an infant born at Women & Infants Hospital, and someone in your immediate family has a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (Autism, ASD, Aspergers, PDD-NOS), or if there is concern that a family member might have an ASD.

Contact our study team at [email protected]  or 401-453-7637.

RI-CART Collaborators

We thank our long-standing community partners, Bradley Hospital, The Autism Project, Gateway, Community Autism Resources, Center for Children and Families, Clinical Services at Women and Infants Hospital, Children’s Neurodevelopment Center at Hasbro Children’s, and the Adult Mental Health Outpatient Program at Butler Hospital.