MFA researchers collaborate with a wide network of leading researchers in the US and worldwide. These collaborations include: large US studies that combine data from many different smaller studies; nation-wide cohort studies following mothers and their children from pregnancy into later life; multi-national studies of autism prevalence and risk factors across different countries; family-based projects that follow the development of younger siblings of older siblings with autism. Some examples of these collaborations can be found here and are also summarized below.

• Regional collaborations: MFA researchers have ongoing projects in collaboration local and regional researchers. This includes strong ties with colleagues at the Harvard School of Public Health, drawing from the Nurses’ Health Study projects, as well as collaborations with Johns Hopkins University researchers on extensions of several ongoing projects. MFA researchers also have worked in close collaboration with colleagues in California harnessing large existing databases, diagnostic information, and archived specimens collected in pregnancy.
• National collaborations: Projects like EARLI and ECHO are multi-site studies involving close collaborations with experts at institutions across the US.
• International collaborations: MFA researchers work with colleagues in the US, Denmark and Sweden, as well as many other European countries, Israel and Australia. Most of these projects use nation- or region-wide registries of health and other kinds of data for large cohort studies.

There are many advantages to these collaborations. Partnerships with colleagues from different scientific backgrounds help MFA researchers study research questions from many angles and perspectives and to develop new approaches. This multi-disciplinary research approach is needed to answer the kinds of complex research question that are important in autism. Collaborations also provide ways to compare results across different populations or groups of people to find clues about factors that could be related to autism. And, autism research needs large amounts of data from collaborations to ensure results are reliable and trustworthy. Finally, large studies from collaborations make it easier to understand what is happening in autism at the population level and to develop public health solutions to benefit the lives of autistic persons and their families. All in all, it takes multiple studies, in different populations, and using different approaches to advance our understanding of autism and to get reliable answers.