Discover SPARK

Celebrating SPARK’s 5th Anniversary

image of a girl with a magic wand

Date Published: April 6, 2021

SPARK's fifth anniversary logo

In 2016, we launched the SPARK study. It was a bold vision to enroll 50,000 families that are affected by autism. We certainly did not do this alone. With the help of over 30 of the top research centers and academic institutions across the country, we’ve been able to enroll over 250,000 participants, including 100,000 people with autism.

We have also had help from you, our community. You have shared SPARK with your family and friends to get the word out. Thanks to you, SPARK is now the largest study of autism ever.

By studying genetic, behavioral, and medical information from hundreds of thousands of people, SPARK is accelerating autism research. SPARK Research Match connects study participants with autism researchers around the world. To date, 33,676 families have been part of nearly 100 autism research studies through Research Match.

As a result of the participation of so many families, SPARK is transforming the way that autism research is done. SPARK will continue on for decades to come, learning from participants as they grow and develop.

We cannot thank you — our participants and partners — enough for all you’ve done over the years. Here’s to many more!

Click here to see more of what we’ve accomplished together over the past five years. See also our 5-year progress report, which is current as of December 2021.