Maternal COVID-19 As a Potential Risk for Autism: Supplemental Funding for Ongoing Pregnancy Cohorts — Request for Applications

Several prospective pregnancy cohorts, across multiple continents, were recruited during the COVID-19 pandemic. These cohorts afforded the opportunity to better understand the impact of maternal infection and inflammation on risk for neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism. Prior animal studies suggested that the risk of adverse outcomes is related to specific T-cell subpopulations, which may be sensitized by the intestinal microbiome. Therefore, SFARI believed that biospecimen collection in the pandemic pregnancy cohorts should include maternal blood for both peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and cytokine assays, as well as cord blood collection at birth. Consideration should also have been given to collection of maternal stool specimens. Ideally, biospecimens were to be collected at multiple timepoints, given the changes that can occur in cytokine and PBMC profiles through the course of pregnancy in response to infection and the presumed importance of fetal age in moderating the impact of maternal risk factors. Furthermore, it was critical that the collection of biospecimens be complemented by the tracking of families after delivery so that child neurodevelopmental outcomes can be determined at age 2–3 years.

SFARI offered this request for applications (RFA) because many of the cohorts that SFARI had queried collected maternal blood at only one or two timepoints, and almost none of the cohorts collect stool specimens. A majority of the cohorts lack child follow-up beyond a few months of age, though some are able to ascertain child outcomes through the use of medical registry data.

We encouraged applicants to familiarize themselves with the summary of a recent SFARI workshop on COVID-19, pregnancy and autism, which can be found here.