
Research Grants Awarded
Understand to improve prevention and intervention
The Support Fund provides funding for groundbreaking research focused on intellectual disabilities and autism.
With our research fellowship program, we strive to explore and enrich our knowledge of intellectual disability and autism in their various forms.
- Early Diagnosis: By promoting the development of early diagnosis methods, we can ensure that children receive the necessary interventions at the first signs of intellectual disability or autism.
- Early Intervention: Our research emphasizes the importance of rapid and adapted interventions, promoting optimal support for children's development.
- Phenotypic Subgroups: By identifying the different phenotypic subgroups, we seek to develop more personalized and effective approaches for each individual.
- Linguistic Studies: Understanding the cognitive challenges and potentials through linguistic studies helps us to better support the communication skills of those involved.
- Electrophysiological Studies: Our research on brain activity allows us to better understand the neurological mechanisms underlying the challenges these individuals encounter.
- Molecular and Genetic Studies: By exploring the genetic bases of autism and intellectual disability, we are opening the way to new therapeutic approaches.
- Disease Mechanisms: Decoding biological mechanisms helps us develop more effective and appropriate treatments.
- Imaging Studies: Advanced imaging techniques allow us to analyze brain function in depth and identify specific abnormalities.
- Behavioral Studies: By analyzing behaviors, we can design more adapted and personalized intervention programs.
- Support Programs: Our commitment goes beyond research; we are also developing support programs for families and professionals who support those affected.
Widely recognized and published research results....
From 2019 to 2024, 55 studies funded by the MM Delacroix Support Fund have been published in the medical literature. They were published in reputable medical journals.
The subjects of the studies funded with the support of the fund align with its objective, namely intellectual disability and autism, with a focus on prevention. Various aspects of intellectual disability/autism have been studied, such as early diagnosis (18,19,20,21,22,23, 26,27, 34, 36), language (4,5,6,8,9,10, 38), electrophysiological studies (29, 41, 46,47,48,49,50, 52,53,54), molecular/genetic aspects (1, 2,3,7, 12, 13, 15, 31, 37), behavior (11, 14, 16,17, 35,37, 39, 40,44, 51), parental support (25, 28, 55), disease mechanisms (24, 42, 43, 45), and the environment (30, 32, 33).
References:
1.Diagnostic work-up in malformations of cortical development. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology. 2024;66(8):974-989 (IF 5,4) Ellen Rijckmans, Katrien Stouffs, Anna C Jansen
2.Non-Mendelian inheritance patterns and extreme deviation rates of CGG repeats in autism. Genome Research 2022; 32(11-12): 1967–1980 (IF: 7,0) Dale J. Annear, Geert Vandeweyer, Alba Sanchis-Juan, F. Lucy Raymond, and R. Frank Kooy
3.Abundancy of polymorphic CGG repeats in the human genome suggest a broad involvement in neurological disease. Scientific Reports. 2021; 11: 2515 (IF: 4,9). Dale J. Annear, Geert Vandeweyer,Ellen Elinck, Alba Sanchis-Juan, Courtney E. French, Lucy Raymond and R. Frank Kooy
4.Structure and acoustics of the speech of verbal autistic preschoolers. Journal of Child Language. 2024;51(3):509-525 (IF: 1,7). Pauline Maes, Marielle Weyland, Mikhail Kissine
5.Describing (pre)linguistic oral productions in 3- to 5-year-old autistic children: A cluster analysis. Autism. 2023;27(4):967-982 (IF: 5,2). Pauline Maes, Marielle Weyland, Mikhail Kissine
6.Neurodevelopmental oscillatory basis of speech processing in noise.Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. 2023; 59: 101181 (IF: 4,7). Julie Bertels, Maxime Niesen, Florian Destoky, Tim Coolen, Marc Vander Ghinst, Vincent Wens, Antonin Rovai, Nicola Trotta, Martijn Baart, Nicola Molinaro, Xavier De Tiège and Mathieu Bourguignona
7.Digenic inheritance of human primary microcephaly delineates centrosomal and non‐centrosomal pathways. Human Mutation. 2020; 41(2): 512–524 (IF: 4,8). Sarah Duerinckx, Valérie Jacquemin, Séverine Drunat, Yoann Vial, Sandrine Passemard, Camille Perazzolo, Annick Massart, Julie Soblet, Judith Racapé, Laurence Desmyter, Cindy Badoer, Sofia Papadimitriou, Yann‐Aël Le Borgne, Anne Lefort, Frédérick Libert, Viviane De Maertelaer, Marianne Rooman, Sabine Costagliola, Alain Verloes, Tom Lenaerts, Isabelle Pirson and Marc Abramowicz
8.Enhanced pitch discrimination in autistic children with unexpected bilingualism. Autism Research. 2024 (IF: 4,7).
https://doi.org/10.1002/AUR.3221. Dumont, C., Belenger, M., Eigsti, I.-M., Mikhail Kissine
9.Audio-visual integration in nonverbal or minimally verbal young autistic children. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2021;150(10), 2137–2157. (IF: 5,5). Kissine, M., Bertels, J., Deconinck, N., Passeri, G., & Deliens, G.
10.Non-colloquial Arabic in Tunisian children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. A possible instance of language acquisition in a non-interactive context. Language Learning, 2019; 69(1), 44–70. (IF: 2,4). Kissine, M., Luffin, X., Aiad, F., Bourourou, R., Deliens, G., & Gaddour, N.
11.Impact of Belgian COVID-19 lockdown restrictions on autistic individuals’ socio-communicative behaviors and their parents’ quality of life. PLoS One. 2022; 17(8): e0273932 (IF:2,9). Marielle Weyland, Pauline Maes, Mikhail Kissine and Pierre Defresne
12.ACAD10 and ACAD11 allow entry of 4-hydroxy fatty acids into β-oxidation. Cell Molecular Life Science. 2024;81(1):367 (IF: 6,2). Stéphanie Paquay, Julia Duraffourd, Marina Bury, Isaac P Heremans, Francesco Caligiore, Isabelle Gerin, Vincent Stroobant, Jean Jacobs, Aymeric Pinon, Julie Graff, Didier Vertommen, Emile Van Schaftingen, Joseph Dewulf, Guido Bommer
13.ECHDC1 knockout mice accumulate ethyl-branched lipids and excrete abnormal intermediates of branched-chain fatty acid metabolism. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2021; 297(4): 101083 (IF: 5,4). Joseph P. Dewulf, Stéphanie Paquay, Etienne Marbaix, Younès Achouri, Emile Van Schaftingen and Guido T. Bommer.
14.Social Cognition in Children with Non-specific Intellectual Disabilities: An Exploratory Study. Frontiers in Psychology. 2020; 11: 1884 (IF: 2,6). Emilie Jacobs, Poline Simon, and Nathalie Nader-Grosbois
15.Haploinsufficiency of ZFHX3, encoding a key player in neuronal development, causes syndromic intellectual disability. American Journal of Human Genetics. 2024;111(3):509-528 (IF: 8,1). MDR Pérez Baca, Eva Z Jacobs, Lies Vantomme, Pontus Leblanc, Elke Bogaert, Annelies Dheedene, Laurenz De Cock, Sadegheh Haghshenas, Aidin Foroutan, Michael A Levy, Jennifer Kerkhof, Haley McConkey, Chun-An Chen, Nurit Assia Batzir, Xia Wang, María Palomares, Marieke Carels; ZFHX3 consortium; Bart Dermaut, Bekim Sadikovic, Björn Menten, Bo Yuan, Sarah Vergult, Bert Callewaert
16.The impact of COVID-19 measures on parent-reported restricted and repetitive behaviours in pre-school children with autism. Heliyon. 2022; 8(6): e09727 (IF: 0,7). Sofie Boterberg, Arianna Zanatta, Floor Moerman, Sarah Schaubroeck, Jasmine Siew, Maarten De Schryver and Herbert Roeyers
17.Telehealth mask wearing training for children with autism during the COVID‐19 pandemic.Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 2021; 54(1): 70–86 (IF: 2,9). Maithri Sivaraman, Javier Virues‐Ortega and Herbert Roeyers
18.Atypical Development of Attentional Control Associates with Later Adaptive Functioning, Autism and ADHD Traits. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2020; 50(11): 4085–4105 (IF: 4,9). Alexandra Hendry, Emily J. H. Jones, Rachael Bedford, Linn Andersson Konke Jannath Begum Ali, Sven Bӧlte, Karin C. Brocki, Ellen Demurie, Mark Johnson, Mirjam K. J. Pijl, Herbert Roeyers, Tony Charman
19.Development of neural responses to hearing their own name in infants at low and high risk for autism spectrum disorder. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience 2020 Feb; 41: 100739 (IF: 6,4). Melda Arslan, Petra Warreyn, Nele Dewaele, Jan R. Wiersema, Ellen Demurie, and Herbert Roeyers
20.Eurosibs: Towards robust measurement of infant neurocognitive predictors of autism across Europe. Infant Behavior and Development. 2019 Nov; 57: 101316 (IF: 1,3). E.J.H. Jones, L. Mason,1 J. Begum Ali, C. van den Boomen, R. Braukmann, E. Cauvet, E. Demurie, R.S. Hessels E.K. Ward, S. Hunnius, S. Bolte, P. Tomalski, C. Kemner, P. Warreyn, H. Roeyers, J. Buitelaar, T. Falck-Ytter, T. Charman, M.H. Johnson and the Eurosibs Team
21.Social referencing skills in children with autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders. 2020:72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2020.101528 (IF: 2,8). Sivaraman, M., Virues-Ortega, J., & Roeyers, H.
22.Nonsimultaneous stimulus presentations and their role in listener naming. Journal of The Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 2021:116, 300-313. (IF: 2,2). Sivaraman, M., Barnes-Holmes, D., & Roeyers, H.
23.Social referencing training in children with autism spectrum disorder: A randomized controlled study. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 2022:55, 763-781 (IF: 2,9). Sivaraman, M., Virues-Ortega, J., Maes-Dhaeyere, L., Saelaert, E., & Roeyers, H
24.Verbal behavior development theory and relational frame theory: Reflecting on similarities and differences. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. 2023: 119, 539-553 (IF: 2,7). Sivaraman, M., Barnes-Holmes, D., Greer, R., Fienup, D., & Roeyers, H.
25.Wellbeing does not predict change in parenting behaviors among mothers of young children at elevated likelihood of autism. Journal of child and family studies. 2024:33(5). p.1393-1414 (IF: 1,6). Melinda Madarevic, Karla Van Leeuwen, Petra Warreyn (UGent) , Lotte van Esch, Floor Moerman (UGent) , Julie Segers, Maurits Masselink, Herbert Roeyers (UGent) , Steffie Amelynck, Lyssa M. de Vries, et al.
26.Play in relation to autism traits in young children at elevated likelihood for autism spectrum disorder. Journal of autism and developmental disorders. 2023:53(4). p.1413-1430 (IF: 3,2). Floor Moerman, Petra Warreyn, Ellen Demurie, Sofie Boterberg, Julie Vermeirsch and Herbert Roeyers
27.Atypical brain network development of infants at elevated likelihood for autism spectrum disorder during the first year of life. Autism research. 2022:15(12). p.2223-2237 (IF: 1,5). Fen Zhang, Floor Moerman (UGent), Haijing Niu, Petra Warreyn (UGent) and Herbert Roeyers (UGent)
28.Conceptualisation of parenting in research on young children with or at elevated likelihood of autism: a systematic review of observational measures. Review journal of autism and developmental disorders. 2021:8(3). p.321-333 (IF: 3,4). Melinda Madarevic, Karla Van Leeuwen, Petra Warreyn (UGent) and Ilse Noens
29.Investigating the development of the autonomic nervous system in infancy through pupillometry. Journal of Neural Transmission (Vienna). 2023; 130(5): 723–734 (IF: 3,2). Lyssa M. de Vries, Steffie Amelynck, Pär Nyström, Lotte van Esch, Thijs Van Lierde, Petra Warreyn, Herbert Roeyers, Ilse Noens, Gunnar Naulaers, Bart Boets, Jean Steyaert, and TIARA Team
30.Higher surrounding green space is associated with better attention in Flemish adolescents.Environment International. 2022:159:107016 (IF: 11,8). Esmée M Bijnens, Stijn Vos, Veerle V Verheyen, Liesbeth Bruckers, Adrian Covaci, Stefaan De Henauw, Elly Den Hond, Ilse Loots, Vera Nelen, Michelle Plusquin, Greet Schoeters, Tim S Nawrot
31.Serum gamma-glutamyl transferase, a marker of alcohol intake, is associated with telomere length and cardiometabolic risk in young adulthood. Scientific Reports. 2021;11(1):12407 (IF: 3,8). Esmée M Bijnens, Catherine Derom, Evert Thiery, Dries S Martens, Ruth J F Loos, Steven Weyers, Tim S Nawrot
32.Residential green space and child intelligence and behavior across urban, suburban, and rural areas in Belgium: A longitudinal birth cohort study of twins. PLoS Medicine. 2020; 18:17(8) (IF: 15). Esmée M Bijnens, Catherine Derom, Evert Thiery, Steven Weyers, Tim S Nawrot
33.Placental mitochondrial DNA content is associated with childhood intelligence. Journal of Translational Medicine. 2019;17(1):361 (IF: 6,2). Esmée M Bijnens, Catherine Derom, Steven Weyers, Bram G Janssen, Evert Thiery, Tim S Nawrot
34.Clinical Situations in Which the Diagnosis of Autism is Debatable: An Analysis and Recommendations. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 2022; 67(5): 331–335 (IF: 3,3). Pierre Defresne and Laurent Mottron
35.Impact of Belgian COVID-19 lockdown restrictions on autistic individuals’ socio-communicative behaviors and their parents’ quality of life. PLoS One. 2022; 17(8): e0273932 (IF:2,9). Marielle Weyland, Pauline Maes, Mikhail Kissine and Pierre Defresne
36.Early detection of Autism Spectrum Disorders by primary care physicians: a report on the experience of French-speaking Belgium. Belgian Journal of Paediatrics.(IF: <1) 2021;23(1):18-22. Defresne P, Cappe E, Willaye E.
37.Voluntary alcohol binge‐drinking in adolescent C57Bl6 mice induces delayed appearance of behavioural defects in both males and females. Addiction Biology. 2022 Jan; 27(1): e13102 (IF: 3,4). Laura Van Hees, Vincent Didone, Manon Charlet‐Briart, Théo Van Ingelgom, Alysson Alexandre, Etienne Quertemont, Laurent Nguyen and Sophie Laguesse
38.The relation between gestures and stuttering in individuals with Down syndrome. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disability. 2022;35(3):761-776 (IF: 2,4). Maessen B, Rombouts E, Maes B, Zink I.
39.Changes in the early communicative behaviors of young children with significant cognitive and motor developmental delays in a two-year span. Journal of Communication Disorders. 2023:104:106337 (IF: 1,8). Ann Dhondt, Ines Van Keer, Annette van der Putten, Bea Maes
40.Early motor, cognitive, language, behavioural and social emotional development in infants and young boys with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy- A systematic review. European Journal of Paediatric Neurology. 2024:52:29-51 (IF: 2,6). Jasmine Hoskens, Silke Paulussen, Nathalie Goemans, Hilde Feys, Liesbeth De Waele, Katrijn Klingels
41.Evaluating the potential of respiratory-sinus-arrhythmia biofeedback for reducing physiological stress in adolescents with autism: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2021; 22: 730 (IF: 2,7). Anoushka Thoen, Jean Steyaert, Kaat Alaerts and Tine Van Damme
42.Oxytocin induces long-lasting adaptations within amygdala circuitry in autism: a treatment-mechanism study with randomized placebo-controlled design. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2020; 45(7): 1141–1149 (IF: 5,1).Kaat Alaerts, Sylvie Bernaerts, Jellina Prinsen, Claudia Dillen, Jean Steyaert and Nicole Wenderoth
43.Oxytocin treatment attenuates amygdala activity in autism: a treatment-mechanism study with long-term follow-up. Translational Psychiatry. 2020; 10: 383 (IF: 6,2). Sylvie Bernaerts, Bart Boets, Jean Steyaert,Nicole Wenderoth, and Kaat Alaerts
44.Eye contact enhances interpersonal motor resonance: comparing video stimuli to a live two-person action context. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. 2019; 14(9): 967–976 (IF: 4,2).Jellina Prinsen and Kaat Alaerts
45.Behavioral effects of multiple-dose oxytocin treatment in autism: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial with long-term follow-up. Molecular Autism. 2020; 11: 6 (IF: 6,3). Sylvie Bernaerts, Bart Boets, Guy Bosmans, Jean Steyaert and Kaat Alaerts
46.Reduced neural sensitivity to rapid individual face discrimination in autism spectrum disorder. Neuroimage: Clinical. 2019; 21: 101613 (IF: 1,8).Sofie Vettori, Milena Dzhelyova, Stephanie Van der Donck, Corentin Jacques, Jean Steyaert, Bruno Rossion and Bart Boets
47.Frequency-Tagging Electroencephalography of Superimposed Social and Non-Social Visual Stimulation Streams Reveals Reduced Saliency of Faces in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2020; 11: 332 (IF: 4,5). Sofie Vettori, Milena Dzhelyova, Stephanie Van der Donck, Corentin Jacques, Jean Steyaert, Bruno Rossion and Bart Boets
48.Combined frequency-tagging EEG and eye-tracking measures provide no support for the “excess mouth/diminished eye attention” hypothesis in autism. Molecular Autism. 2020; 11: 94 (IF: 6,3). Sofie Vettori, Stephanie Van der Donck, Jannes Nys, Pieter Moors, Tim Van Wesemael, Jean Steyaert,Bruno Rossion, Milena Dzhelyova and Bart Boets
49.Intact neural representations of affective meaning of touch but lack of embodied resonance in autism: a multi-voxel pattern analysis study. Molecular Autism. 2019; 10: 39 (IF: 6,3). Haemy Lee Masson, Ineke Pillet, Steffie Amelynck, Stien Van De Plas, Michelle Hendriks, Hans Op de Beeck and Bart Boets
50.Reduced task-dependent modulation of functional network architecture for positive versus negative affective touch processing in autism spectrum disorders. Neuroimage, 2020: 219, 117009 (IF: 4,8). Haemy Lee Masson, Hans Op de Beeck, Bart Boets
51.Rapid neural categorization of angry and fearful faces is specifically impaired in boys with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2020; 61(9): 1019–1029 (IF: 8,9). Stephanie Van der Donck, Milena Dzhelyova, Sofie Vettori, Soha Sadat Mahdi, Peter Claes, Jean Steyaert and Bart Boets
52.Intact neural representations of affective meaning of touch but lack of embodied resonance in autism: a multi-voxel pattern analysis study. Molecular Autism. 2019; 10: 39 (IF: 6,3). Haemy Lee Masson, Ineke Pillet, Steffie Amelynck, Stien Van De Plas, Michelle Hendriks, Hans Op de Beeck and Bart Boets
53.Task-dependent changes in functional connectivity during the observation of social and non-social touch interaction. Cortex. 2020, 25:73-89 (IF: 4,0). Haemy Lee Masson, Ineke Pillet, Bart Boets, Hans Op de Beeck
54.Can the N170 Be Used as an Electrophysiological Biomarker Indexing Face Processing Difficulties in Autism Spectrum Disorder? Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging. 2019; 4(3):321-323 (IF: 5,3). Sofie Vettori, Corentin Jacques, Bart Boets, Bruno Rossion
55.Parenting Strategies Used by Parents of Children with ASD: Differential Links with Child Problem Behaviour. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2020; 50(2): 386–401 (IF: 3,3). Elizabeth O’Nions, Eva Ceulemans, Francesca Happé,Paul Benson,Kris Evers and Ilse Noens








