BRAIN Foundation Launches Aurora Research Network to Transform Care for Youth with Severe Neuropsychiatric Disorders

 National Initiative, in Collaboration With Stanford Medicine, Aims to Establish the First Evidence-Based Standard of Care

PLEASANTON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The BRAIN Foundation, in collaboration with Stanford Medicine, today launched the Aurora Research Network (ARN), a national initiative to establish the first coordinated, evidence-based standard of care for sudden and severe behavioral and neuropsychiatric deteriorations. The BRAIN Foundation is backing the effort with an initial $2 million pledge, addressing a gap clinicians face daily: No shared protocol exists for evaluating or treating these deteriorations.

The initiative serves individuals with neurodevelopmental and neuroimmune disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD) deteriorations, PANS/PANDAS, and other conditions marked by sudden and severe functional decline. Funding will support a centralized database and consensus protocols for evaluation and treatment, coordinated through the Aurora Research Network Coordinating Center at Stanford School of Medicine.

“Families and caregivers facing severe behavioral deterioration in ASD kids and adults often encounter fragmented care across multiple specialties, with little consensus on evaluation or treatment,” said Pramila Srinivasan, Ph.D., founder and president of The BRAIN Foundation. “Aurora is our answer. We’re building the infrastructure, the scientific evidence, clinical consensus, and collaborative infrastructure, so the field can move from individual clinical judgement to shared evidence.”

The initiative’s foundation, strategic direction, and funding were spearheaded by Dr. Srinivasan in collaboration with Jennifer Frankovich, M.D., a pediatric rheumatologist and director of the Stanford Immune Behavioral Health Clinic at Stanford Medicine, and Denise Calaprice, Ph.D., director of the Studying Youth Neuro-Immune Connections program at Stanford Medicine, who has extensive industry experience in clinical research and drug development.

Presentations at Synchrony 2026

Dr. Frankovich and Kevin Hoffman, M.D., Ph.D., clinical assistant professor at Stanford Medicine, will present these initiatives at The BRAIN Foundation’s annual symposium, Synchrony, open to the general public, on Aug. 30, 2026. Conference information is available on The BRAIN Foundation website at https://brainfoundation.org/synchrony-symposia/.

A Multifaceted Approach to Accelerate Discovery

The ARN’s mission is to bring together the collective expertise of leading clinicians and researchers to prepare for and conduct the rigorous clinical trials that families are waiting for. The network’s initial goals are to:

1. Understand the Natural History of Illness: Systematically collect long-term, prospective data to map how these conditions unfold over time, including symptom onset, relapse frequency, recovery, and factors influencing a child’s prognosis.
2. Develop Evidence-Based Patient Subgroups: Create data-driven criteria for diagnosis and for identifying meaningful subtypes that may respond differently to treatment, enabling more precise and personalized care.
3. Refine and Validate Outcome Measures: Build better tools for measuring symptom burden and treatment response, ensuring that clinical trials can accurately ascertain whether a therapy is working.
4. Learn from Real-World Evidence: Analyze data on how patients respond to existing therapies to identify the most promising treatments for formal study.
5. Identify Biological Markers of Disease: Investigate biological signals (“biomarkers”) in blood and other samples that could help guide diagnosis, predict treatment response, and monitor disease activity.

Key Components of the National Initiative

The collaboration will deploy a phased strategy, building from clinical consensus to large-scale research:

• Convene an International Delphi Consensus Panel: As a critical first step, The BRAIN Foundation is funding an international Delphi consensus panel to bring together leading experts from across the globe — including specialists in autism, psychiatry, neurology, immunology, gastroenterology, pediatrics, emergency medicine, hospital-based care, and more — to develop the first evidence-based consensus recommendations for evaluating and treating these complex conditions.
• Launch a Multicenter Clinical Trial Platform: The ARN will serve as a national/international clinical trial platform designed to accelerate rigorous studies of promising therapeutic approaches. By centralizing and standardizing protocols, IRB submissions, contracts, and data-sharing mechanisms, the ARN will reduce administrative barriers and enable participating institutions to conduct harmonized studies, develop shared research infrastructure, and rapidly translate discoveries into patient care.
• Integrate Patient and Family Perspectives: The network will solicit and incorporate patient and family perspectives through a dedicated advisory council, ensuring that research questions and outcomes reflect real-world priorities.

A Long-Term Vision for Coordinated Care

This initiative represents the first phase of a long-term commitment. The ultimate vision is to create an integrated network that brings together expertise across many institutions and all relevant disciplines to ensure every patient receives comprehensive, coordinated care, regardless of where they live.

The ARN is actively inviting sites and investigators to declare their interest in participation, with 21 sites having already formally done so. Sites without current research infrastructure are encouraged to participate, as expressions of interest will inform resource development and fundraising efforts.

About The BRAIN Foundation

The BRAIN Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research, accelerating clinical innovation, and improving the lives of individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorders. Through strategic funding, national collaborations, and engagement with leading academic institutions, The BRAIN Foundation supports groundbreaking research while translating scientific discoveries into better clinical care. For more information about The BRAIN Foundation, please visit https://brainfoundation.org, and connect on LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube.

Investigators and sites interested in learning more about the Aurora Research Network may contact Denise Calaprice, Ph.D., director, Aurora Research Network, at [e-mail].

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Tags: BRAIN Foundation, Aurora Research Network, Stanford School of Medicine, neuropsychiatric, behavioral disorder, neurodevelopmental disorder, neuroimmune disorder, autism spectrum disorder, ASD, neuroscience, neurodivergent, neurodiversity, medical research, medical technology, clinical trials, biomarkers, Delphi consensus panel