An international team of researchers from Europe and Australia will contribute to MICRO-NEST, a €6 million Horizon Europe project applying innovative approaches to identify markers of autism in children born before 37 weeks of gestation.
According to the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (2021), autism is among the top ten causes of nonfatal health burden for people under the age of twenty.
The MICRO-NEST project aims to transform the detection and management of autism in children born preterm – an under-researched population – whose long-term health can benefit from early intervention, therapy and support.
Nonetheless, boys are not usually diagnosed until they hit their fifth birthday, with girls usually diagnosed even later. Professor Pierre Gressens, MICRO-NEST Project Coordinator, says that the project will lead to improved diagnosis and more equitable outcomes for children.
These missed opportunities to provide support and therapies during critical moments in early life are compounded by inequity of access, and high lifetime costs for individuals, families and health systems.
MICRO-NEST addresses the early diagnosis gap by identifying early-life biological markers, generating new tools, and informing neonatal and autism support guidelines for anticipatory care."
Professor Pierre Gressens, MICRO-NEST Project Coordinator
As a disruptive early-life event, preterm birth is a leading cause of neurodevelopmental, cognitive and behavioral impairments. Children born preterm are three times more likely to be diagnosed with autism due to alteration in brain development.
MICRO-NEST proposes that prenatal and perinatal microenvironments, including the immune system, gut microbiota, and early life events, form a developmental 'nest' that shapes the gene-driven trajectory of brain maturation.
People with autism show dysfunction in the brain, immune system and microbiome, but the reasons remain poorly understood. Many live with gastrointestinal symptoms linked to an imbalance in the gut microbiome, making this a treatment priority.
MICRO-NEST will generate new knowledge on the processes driving the changes in the gut, immune system, microbiome and brain that lead to autism, factoring in sex, gender, age, ethnicity, socioeconomic, lifestyle, behavioral and societal factors.
The team's innovative approach will integrate genomics, glycomics, immune profiling, microbiome analysis and advanced brain imaging to map the mechanistic pathways linking preterm birth, inflammation and autism.
Through a comprehensive analysis of data from existing European studies and preclinical investigation, MICRO-NEST researchers will create an AI-enabled digital twin for autism – a first-of-its-kind tool for autism diagnosis.
With this technology, clinicians will be able to turn complex data into actionable insights to provide patients with a personalised plan of support and treatment of negative symptoms such as gastrointestinal discomfort. The digital twin will be available to clinicians, neonatologists, pediatricians and child psychiatrists.
Central to MICRO-NEST will be the collaboration between the researchers and people with lived experience of autism and preterm birth.
From the project outset, an ongoing consultation between researchers, patients and caregivers will ensure that the outcomes of the research will be acceptable, enhance quality of life and benefit the most vulnerable members of society.
MICRO-NEST's expert team spanning Europe and Australia will embark on the five-year project from September 2026.
Partners: Inserm (coordinator); RMIT Europe; University Medical Center Utrecht; University Hospital Essen; King's College London; University of Edinburgh; Maastricht University; University of Rostock; Gothenburg University; Unapei; Global Foundation for the Care of Newborn Infants; Technische Universität Dresden; Genos Ltd; University of Geneva; Inserm Transfert SA; RMIT University.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
Boston Children's joins landmark initiative to advance autism therapies