In response to a request from the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders, in collaboration with the Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine, hosted a workshop on Autism and the Environment: Challenges and Opportunities for Research on April 18th and 19th, 2007. The workshop featured presentations and discussions on strategies for research focusing on the potential relationship between autism and an array of environmental exposures.

An ad hoc planning committee organized a public workshop that focused on the following three questions:

1. What are the most promising scientific opportunities for improving the understanding of potential environmental factors in autism?
2. What scientific tools and technologies are available, what interdisciplinary research approaches are needed, and what further infrastructure investments will be necessary in the short- and long-term to be able to explore potential relationships between autism and environmental factors?
3. What opportunities exist for public private partnerships in the support and conduct of the research?