CHAPEL HILL – UNC is doing its part in a global study on a potential new treatment for autism.

UNC ASPIRE Program clinical research manager Cheryl Alderman says the study will look at how an experimental drug known as memantine affects the symptoms of autism spectrum disorders—and researchers have already begun enrolling patients.

“The first part of the study, they’ll receive open-label medication,” she says, “(and) if they have a positive response or no response, they’ll be randomized into a separate study where they may get active medication or a placebo…(then) if the participant does not do well, they can go straight back into an open-label phase.”

UNC’s ASPIRE program, which is orchestrating the university’s involvement in the project, is dedicated to doing research on children and adolescents who are suspected to have an autism-related disorder. The study will take place at more than 80 worldwide sites; UNC-Chapel Hill is the only one in North Carolina.


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