With just 10 days left before the National Institutes of Health closes its application for Autism Data Science Initiative (ADSI) research proposals on June 27, the Coalition of Autism Scientists has come out criticizing its framework for not adhering to best science practices.

The NIH first opened the request for research proposals on May 27 and noted it plans to allocate $50 million to projects that advance the “understanding of contributors to autism diagnosis and increases in prevalence of the condition” and “effective and scalable interventions and services” for autism spectrum disorder.

“While the amount available for this ADSI is significant, representing more than 10% of the annual budget for autism research, the Coalition of Autism Scientists has serious concerns about the primary focus on data mining of existing datasets and the process for selecting proposals for funding, all while drastically eliminating ongoing investigator-initiated grants and gutting the NIH budget for future research,” the group’s press release states.

This is the Autism Data Science Initiative’s first call for research proposals under the direction of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has repeatedly referred to autism as an “epidemic” and a “disease” – which has drawn backlash from health professionals over the rhetoric.

At a Senate committee hearing in May, the HHS secretary argued that there is too much focus on the genetic causes of autism and not enough research conducted on environmental factors like toxins – which has been refuted as a cause by past research. He went so far as to add that no further research should be funded on the genetic links to autism.

In May, Kennedy also backed the formation of an autism database, which will pull research across claims data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, electronic medical records and consumer wearables.

The HHS secretary has previously asserted a priority to identify the cause of autism by September; however, he walked back the deadline during a May 22 CNN interview, claiming some information will be available then, but that other findings related to autism will be released six months after the September date.

The NIH’s $50 million call for research proposals doubles down on the mention of exploring “environmental exposures” as a potential cause of the condition and encourages proposals that aim to move the needle across the following four areas:

• New, emerging or understudied factors that may contribute to autism.
  
• How disparate factors like “exposomics” – or environmental exposures – contribute to risk and resilience of autism.
  
• How the above factors may interact to contribute to the increase in prevalence of autism.
  
• Characterization of patterns in autism treatment, interventions and services to identify scalable solutions for treatment.

The Coalition of Autism Scientists argues that although the call for research “invites applicants to embrace an open science framework by registering their research plans and sharing their data and models, which are accepted scientific practices, it lacks transparency in the awarding and execution of the research to be conducted,” Dr. Helen Tager-Flusberg, founder of the Coalition of Autism Scientists stated in a news release.

The group also notes that the NIH’s grant for this research includes an abnormal contract mechanism titled “other transactions,” which is unlike standard NIH grant allocation methods.

“NIH staff will be involved in the grant review process itself and have far greater involvement in the execution of the funded projects than is standard,” the release reads, noting that the level of involvement “undermines the independence of the peer-review process as well as the role of the investigators whose proposals are selected for funding.”

The rapid timeline of just a month to accept proposal submissions between May 27 to June 27 is also unnerving to some experts.

“Another concerning issue is the rapidity with which the process from announcement to the application submission deadline is taking place, allowing just one month for applicants to pull together a large-scale, collaborative scientific proposal,” Dr. David Amaral, member of the Coalition of Autism Scientists Executive Committee, said.

So far in 2025, the Trump administration has cut funding for autism-related research by 26%, according to Reuters.

Last month, a poll by the Coalition of Autism Scientists found that 98% of its membership is worried about the challenges they may face obtaining new grants for research and 85% expressed fears over losing existing funding. The group was formed in 2025 in reaction to the HHS’s dismissal of decades of autism research and establishment of questionable research protocols. A full list of its members is publicly available on its website.

The $50 million will be allocated across 10-25 projects with a budget of approximately $5 million per award. Awards for the selected research proposals will be issued in September, according to the NIH.