Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative

The Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative, or SFARI for short, is a research program established in 2005 by the Simons Foundation, which focuses on all aspects of autism research. Its director is Louis Reichardt. The organization has funded more than $200 million in autism research to 150 different investigators since 2007. Marilyn Simons, the Simons Foundation's president, is on the board of directors, as are David Eisenbud and James H. Simons. Their scientific advisory board includes Cornelia Bargmann and Huntington Willard. The awards they give out include Pilot Awards (for innovative high-impact proposals for experiments still in the preliminary stages), Research Awards (for research into a topic which has already been investigated at least preliminarily), and Explorer Awards (which provides grants for focused experiments on a one-time basis). One specific type of research they specialize in is mouse models of autism, which they are trying to make more available in cooperation with the Jackson Laboratory.

SFARI Gene is an integrative model with a publicly available web portal for the ongoing collection, curation and visualization of genes linked to autism disorders. The content originates entirely from the published scientific literature. SFARI Gene also provides a comprehensive collection of animal models linked to autism. The Simons Simplex Collection is a sample gathered by SFARI from over 2000 families for identifying de novo genetic variants that contribute to the overall risk of autism.

In 2016, SFARI launched Simons Foundation Powering Autism Research for Knowledge (SPARK), an online research initiative designed to become the largest autism study ever undertaken in the United States. For researchers, SPARK provides a large, well-characterized cohort of genetic, medical and behavioral data, and will result in cost-savings for researchers by reducing start-up costs for individual studies.