For a newly-established disease foundation:

We helped design and establish a unique organizational model for fostering collaboration in autism research.

A group of Boston-based philanthropists was frustrated with the slow pace of research in autism, despite the growing prevalence of the disease; they were eager to attract outstanding new investigators to the field and to facilitate collaboration among them. Mindful that Boston-area universities included both current leading autism researchers as well as renowned faculty in relevant disciplines such as neuroscience and genetics, they sought to establish an organizational entity that would attract leading researchers to the field; facilitate dialogue among scientists, clinicians and families to identify the critical needs for making rapid progress in the field; and provide the resources to catalyze this research. AltshulerStaats was hired to help establish this new organization, and to work with faculty to establish specific scientific goals. Working with the Board and faculty leaders, AltshulerStaats helped define organizational principles and research priorities. The consortium now consists of nearly 100 clinicians and scientists across 15 institutions, and the model is being replicated in other parts of the country.