Information for Researchers

• What types of information does RI-CART collect?

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RI-CART collects family demographics, family medical history, as well as developmental, mental health, and services history from participants. RI-CART also encourages participants to provide biosamples (blood or saliva) and their complete medical records. Finally, RI-CART administers several assessments to repository members:

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• Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, 2nd edition (ADOS-2)

• Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, 2nd edition (VABS-2)

• Social Responsiveness Scale, 2nd edition (SRS-2)

• Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test  (KBIT-2), for ages 4 years and above

As of November 2017, the following additions and changes to the assessment protocol have been made:

• Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), now included for all ages

• Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, 3rd edition (Vineland-3), replacing the VABS-2

You can learn more about the forms and assessments RI-CART registry members complete here:

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Who is in the RI-CART repository?

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As of Fall 2017, RI-CART has over 1,500 participants. The majority are between ages 5 and 15; however, our participants range in age from 21 months to 68 years. 76% of RI-CART participants are male and 24% are female; this 4 to 1 ratio aligns almost exactly with current ASD gender prevalence estimates. RI-CART participants come from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, and reflect the considerable variation in symptomology and adaptive ability seen amongst individuals on the autism spectrum. 

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Can I use RI-CART collected data in my study? Can I use RI-CART subjects for additional studies? How can I request to use RI-CART data or participants as subjects in my study?

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 We welcome researchers from all disciplines who are interested in studying ASD to use RI-CART collected data in their own research or to recruit the well characterized subjects into new studies.  Depending on the nature of data use requests and/or participant recruitment requests, there may be costs associated with access to the RI-CART data and cohort. Please complete the application to use RI-CART collected data using the following link

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Can I collaborate with RI-CART on my new or ongoing research project?

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 We welcome researchers from all disciplines that are interested in collaborating with RI-CART, or incorporating RI-CART data into an ongoing project. To discuss a possible collaboration, please contact RI-CART co-investigator Dr. Giulia Righi  

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Does RI-CART provide financial support to researchers?

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Unfortunately, RI-CART is unable to provide fellowships or funding opportunities to collaborating researchers at this time.

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How can I get involved in RI-CART?

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 If you are interested in using RI-CART data for your study or recruiting participants for your study using the RI-CART repository, please follow the directions included above. If you have additional questions about the RI-CART repository, please contact Dr. Giulia Righi.

If you are interested in learning more about volunteer, internship, and employment opportunities with RI-CART, please get in touch! You can contact us.

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