Sources of Funding

Our sponsors

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Current Grants

Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation

2023-2025

$750,000.00

Career Development Award to Liz Torres

Rutgers Global Grant (with Israel)

2022-2023

$8,000.00, Torres PI

Characterization of mental, bodily, and shared awareness in dyadic Feldenkrais practices distinguishing spontaneous exploratory from deliberate goal-directed learning modes.

This project will develop medical outcome measures of the effectiveness of social emotional learning in the school systems inclusive of students with special needs.

2021-2022

$50,000.00 PI

Establishing Objective Behavioral Signatures of ASD in out-of-the-lab environments: A Micro-Movement Analysis Approach

The NJ Council for the Medical Research and Treatments of Autism

7/1/2020 - 6/30/2022

$400,000.00

Social Skills and Emotional Rhythms in Educational and Vocational Training to Help Develop Autonomous and Independent Living

This project will develop medical outcome measures of the effectiveness of social emotional learning in the school systems inclusive of students with special needs.

Rutgers Busch Biomedical Grant

9/1/2019 - 9/1/2020

$60,000.00

A Clinical Trial of Measuring Core Symptoms during Sulforaphane

A pilot project to validate digital biomarkers as a tool to measure improvement in core symptoms of autism during sulforaphane treatment.

The NJ Governor’s Council for the Medical Research and Treatment of Autism

7/1/2018 - 6/30/2023

$4,000,000.00

The NJ Autism Center of Excellence to Transform Autism Research, Education and Services in NJ.

The major goals of this project is to transform autism research, education and care in the state of NJ.

Rutgers University Tech Advance Award

7/1/2018 – 6/30/2019

$100,000.00

Smart Shoes for Biofeedback Sensing and Measurements of Motor Control and Autonomy

The major goal of this project is to integrate new patented biometrics invented at the Torres lab into the cloud computing for real time biofeedback through shoes with wearable biosensors and integrated battery-Bluetooth. This is a collaborative project with a local NJ startup (Zeblok) licensing some of the Torres analytics from RU.

The NJ Governor’s Council for the Research and Treatment of Autism

7/1/2017 – 6/30/2019

$387,846.00

Characterization of the female phenotype of ASD using Big Data

The major goal of this project is to data mine large repositories of various kinds of data in search of patterns defining the female phenotype with autism spectrum disorders, Asperger’s syndrome and controls.

The NJ Governor’s Council for the Research and Treatment of Autism

7/1/2015 – 6/30/2017

$385,838.00

Bridging behavior and genetics through sensory-motor electrophysiology

The major goal of this project is to digitally characterize the behavioral phenotype Fragile X and related disorder across generations.

Previous Grants

Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation Career Development Award

2014-2017

$636,000.00

Using the plasticity of peripheral micro-movements to characterize and treat subtypes of disorders on a spectrum

This project created a new research program to apply closed-loop sensory substitution methods to evoke the sense of social agency in pre-verbal autistic children.

The Henry Wallace Foundation

2014-2016

$36,000.00

The Use of Objective Metrics to Characterize Social Interactions and Communication Between Child and Therapist: Towards Tailored Interventions for Sensory Processing Disorders

This project characterized sensory processing disorders and finished a clinical trial involving children and adults with sensory-processing disorders doing sensory-integration occupational therapy in relation to neurotypical controls.

The New Jersey Governor's Council for Autism Research and Treatment

2016-2018

$156,034.00

Exploring Low Cost vs. Research Grade Wearable Sensor to Characterize Patterns of Sleep and Activities of Daily Life in Children with ASD

This project developed digital biomarkers of autistic traits and adapted them to off-the-shelf Apple watches and cell phones sensors for broad use outside the constraints of the laboratory.

The New Jersey Governor's Council for Autism Research and Treatment

2014-2016

$398,908.00

New objective Autism Inventory to Quantify Peripheral Plasticity During Standardized ADOS-2 Social Exchange

This project digitized the ADOS test and uncovered efficient tasks within the test that reduce the burden of test-taking on the children; revealed the role of the rater and child dyad and enhanced the reliability of the test scores across raters.

The Gates Foundation Grand Challenge Explorations

2014-2016

$100,000.00

Measuring Brain and Movement Development in Infants

This longitudinal project took place along the course of 5 months involving pre-term and full term neonates. The project generated biometrics of neonatal neuro-development and growth rate revealing the 3 months of age as a critical point to flag stunting in neuro-development and/or physical growth (Rutgers patented the methods).

NSF Innovative Corps

2014-2015

$50,000.00

Versatile Statistical Platform to Analyze, Diagnose, Track, and Treat Neurological Disorders

This project discovered the market fit for our biometrics of naturalistic behaviors and upon 180 interviews the sensory-integration occupational therapists turned out to be the best fit.

Department of Defense

2013-2014

$35,000.00

Transforming Research, Diagnosis and Treatment Effectiveness in ASD: Towards Better Social Interactions

This project helped develop closed-loop interfaces to study hidden aspects of social interactions beyond naked eye detection.

The New Jersey Governor’s Council Award for Medical Research and Treatment of Autism

2010-2012

$650,000.00

Perceptual-Motor Anticipation in Individuals with ASD

This project created experimental assays to study eye-hand coordination and decision making in autism.

Rutgers University Academic Excellence Award

2009-2011

$50,000.00

Characterization of Movement Classes of Neuromotor Control

This project developed a new framework to explore the role of spontaneous transitional gestures embedded in movements describing natural behaviors.

NSF Cyber Enabled Discovery and Innovation

2009-2012

$670,000.00

A Novel Quantitative Framework to Study Lack of Social Interactions in Autism

This project developed a new research program, experimental assays and analytics to study neuromotor and social agency in autism.