Since 2004 The Althea Foundation has funded research in pediatric and adolescent neurobiological disorders  associated with Autism, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Depression.

In conjunction with the University of California San Francisco Medical School, Department of Psychiatry and The National Alliance for Autism Research, Althea funded innovative biomedical research to develop a better understanding of the genetic markers for ADD, OCD, Depression and Autism.

Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder that typically lasts throughout a person's lifetime. Today, 1 in 150 individuals is diagnosed with autism, making it more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined. It occurs in all racial, ethnic, and social groups and is four times more likely to strike boys than girls.

Althea has been an early financial supporter of Autism Speaks which was founded in the U.S. in 2005. Autism Speaks was created  to raise awareness of the disorder.

Today the Autism Speaks brand has become one of the most successful non-profits in America for biomedical research in childhood brain disorders, raising close to $62 million in 2007. In the same year the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to designate April 2 as World Autism Awareness Day.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/