To: IACCPublicInquiries@mail.nih.gov
Ref: IACC Strategic Plan 2026–2028 - Draft Jul 17, 2026
Thank you for your service and for drafting this comprehensive and well-thought-out strategic plan for autism. As an autism and environmental health funder for over 20 years, I’m grateful to see more focus on environmental factors. I was also happy to see the focus on the imbalance of extinction and inhibition and oxidative stress.
There are a few areas I have been following that I believe are aligned with your strategic framework and may be worthy of inclusion and further review:
Autism, the Cause and the Cure: and the Link to Postpartum Depression
by John E. Whitcomb, MD
In this book, written for a non-medical audience, Dr. Whitcomb presents evidence that the total load of oxidative stress from multiple factors is a risk factor for autism. He also presents evidence, based on the work of Dayan Goodenowe, PhD, that plasmalogen levels are a protective factor that can reduce the risks of these exposures.
This paper by Martin Pall, PhD goes into deeper biophysics and pathways of how oxidative stress is elevated and helps to narrow down the environmental suspects to several categories of excitotoxins and metabolic factors.
Pall ML. Central Causation of Autism/ASDs via Excessive [Ca2+] i Impacting Six Mechanisms Controlling Synaptogenesis during the Perinatal Period: The Role of Electromagnetic Fields and Chemicals and the NO/ONOO (-) Cycle, as Well as Specific Mutations. Brain Sciences. 2024 Apr 30;14(5):454.
This is the most clear and comprehensive model for how autism works that I have seen. This diagram visually outlines the environmental factors and some of the key metabolic factors detailed in the paper.
Finally, please consider plasmalogens and malondialdehyde (MDA) as biomarkers for protective antioxidant levels and oxidative stress and environmental exposures. I think it is worth examining if the ratio of MDA to plasmalogens would correlate with autism risk and/or symptom severity.
Peter Sullivan
Clear Light Ventures