Happy Dog Ranch Foundation is partnering with SPARK, CU's School of Medicine's JFK Partners, and Children's Hospital Colorado this summer for two national Autism studies.

  • The Spark Autism Project is a landmark Autism study whose aim is to jumpstart Autism research by providing researchers genetic and medical information from tens of thousands of individuals and families affected by Autism.

  • The US Forest Service, in cooperation with Georgia State University, is funding an environmental impact study to better understand the impact of natural environments on children and teens with Autism, and how to help them manage stress and improve well-being.

Both are looking for families to participate, and we do hope that you'll consider being part of one or both of these important, far-reaching projects. If you know of any families who might also be interested, please feel free to share this information.
Spark Autism Research Project
We are excited to help JFK Partners spread the word about the SPARK autism research project, an online research study sponsored by the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative!

The goal of SPARK is to accelerate autism research in order to gain a better understanding of causes and treatments for autism. By building a community of tens of thousands of individuals with autism and their biological family members who provide behavioral and genetic data, SPARK will be the largest autism research study to date.

Participation involves consent, collection of basic medical information, and saliva collection from individuals with autism and their parents. Enrollment can be completed entirely online. Saliva collection kits can be mailed to your home and returned to the lab in a prepaid mailer. You can enroll at www.sparkforautism.org/JFKPartners . 
Do you prefer to enroll in person? Jeanette Cordova, the Colorado SPARK coordinator, can answer any questions, get you enrolled and help to collect samples. If you would prefer to enroll with us in person, please just call us at 303-724-0473 or email spark@ucdenver.edu .
Natural Environments Impact Study
Happy Dog Ranch is a therapeutic Equine rescue and sanctuary facility that provides a healing environment for all the animals that call the ranch home and to all communities that attend its programming. For more information, visit our website .