Project Grant R01DC021711

The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has been awarded a $696,836 Project Grant (R01DC021711) from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), under the Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders program (CFDA 93.173). The funding will support a cross-sectional study investigating the neural basis of sensorimotor control of speech in individuals with 16p11.2 deletion syndrome, a common genetic etiology associated with speech impairments. The research aims to build a mechanistic understanding of the causes of speech deficits in this population and contrast them with speech-impaired individuals with autism but no known genetic etiology. The study will leverage ongoing UCSF data collection for the Speech, Voice, and Communication (SVAC) study and enroll participants with 16p11.2 deletion syndrome to examine their speech abilities, sensorimotor control, and underlying neural processes. The 5-year project is expected to provide insights that can inform the development of novel interventions for speech impairments in neurodevelopmental disorders.