Autism & Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Program Research Fellowship

The Autism and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Program Research Fellowship at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Einstein is dedicated to developing innovative, novel and breakthrough treatments for a unique group of overlapping conditions, clarifying neurobiological mechanisms that underlie core symptom domains across these conditions, and providing world-renowned care to our research participants.

Our Autism and Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Program currently focuses on autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS). Obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) are also of interest to the program.

The Autism and Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Program is located at the Psychiatry Research Institute at Montefiore Einstein (PRIME) in the Van Etten Building of Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Our work seeks to bridge and translate fundamental neuroscience discoveries into innovative experimental therapeutics and new clinical treatments. Our expert group of psychiatrists, psychologists and investigators considers our patients as partners in growing our field’s knowledge base.

Our clinical orientation is translational. We use neuroscience discoveries to develop and launch breakthrough treatments. We use behavioral, cognitive and early efficacy biomarker assessments (i.e. eye tracking) to determine the impact of treatments on clinical symptoms and the underlying endophenotype (measures of the condition that lie in between genes and clinical symptoms). We perform our intensive diagnostic, neuropsychological and safety measures at the Montefiore Einstein Clinical Research Center.

Program Director Dr. Eric Hollander, MD, has been the principal investigator (PI) of 10 federal grants, authored over 500 publications, and has over 22,574 citations and an h-index of 84. He is a co-chair of the International College of Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders (ICOCS) and the Clinical Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Society. Dr. Hollander was chair of the DSM-5 research planning agenda for obsessive-compulsive and related disorders. He was the director and PI of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Studies to Advance Autism Research and Treatment (STAART) Autism Center of Excellence and PI of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Psychopharmacology Training Fellowship. The program has received funding from the Department of Defense and the Orphan Products Division of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for ASD, BDD and Prader-Willi syndrome. The program has developed targeted treatments for the repetitive behavior domain and the social communication domain of ASD.

The Autism and OCD Program collaborates with the Montefiore Einstein Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) and other clinical investigators at Montefiore Einstein. We were recently awarded funding by the Department of Defense Autism Research Program to study “Cannabidivarin (CBDV) Versus Placebo in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).” This study is being conducted in collaboration with Dr. Orrin Devinsky, director of New York University (NYU) Langone’s Comprehensive Epilepsy Center and GW Pharmaceuticals. The primary aim is to compare changes in irritability from baseline to endpoint between the treatment and placebo groups. The secondary aims include comparing repetitive behaviors, social communication, quality of life and adaptive behavior.

Our Program also received funding from the Orphan Products Division of the FDA to study “Intranasal Oxytocin Versus Placebo for the Treatment of Hyperphagia in Children and Adolescents with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS).” This study determined whether intranasal oxytocin effectively reduces hyperphagia in PWS as measured by changes in the Hyperphagia Questionnaire-Clinical Trials (HQ-CT). We will also examine secondary outcomes of changes in repetitive behaviors, quality of life and salivary oxytocin concentration, as well as examine genetic correlates with study outcome.

The research fellowship is also a proud recipient of funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development—part of the NIH—to study “Long-term Antipsychotic Pediatric Safety (LAPS).” In this trial, the primary objective is to evaluate the long-term pathologic weight changes associated with multi-year risperidone or aripiprazole therapy in children between the ages of 3 and 18 who have varying durations of prior antipsychotic drug exposure from the start of Study Month 0 (M0). The second objective is to evaluate the overall safety of multi-year risperidone and aripiprazole therapy in children aged 3 to 18 years by assessing long-term changes in safety outcomes of special interest, evaluate the potential long-term benefits of risperidone and aripiprazole and estimate pharmacokinetic parameters of risperidone and aripiprazole in normal weight children 6–<10 years and obese children 6–<18 years.

Our Program has collaborated with the following industry sponsors: GW Pharmaceuticals, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Curemark LLC, Takeda, Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Neurocrine Biosciences, Pfizer, Forest Research Institute (now Allergan), Transcept Pharmaceuticals and Coronado Biosciences. Foundations that have funded our research include the Foundation for Prader-Willi Research and the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI).

• Cannabidivarin (CBDV) Versus Placebo in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
• Cannabidivarin (CBDV) Versus Placebo in Children and Adults up to Age 30 with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS)
• Caregivers’ Perspectives and Usage of the Ketogenic Diet for Autism Spectrum Disorder, Prader-Willi Syndrome and Rett Syndrome (Survey)
• A Phase 3 Efficacy and Safety Study of Pitolisant in Patients with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS)
• Intranasal Oxytocin Versus Placebo in Children with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS)
• A Phase 3, Randomized, Double-Blind, Dose-Ranging Evaluation of Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation (tVNS) to Reduce Temper Outbursts in People with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS)