Darryll Frost and his wife Lee have donated $500,000 to SFU to support research on atypical brain development and the potential for oxygen therapy to treat autism.

In 2012, when their then three-year-old son Callum was diagnosed with autism, the Frosts scoured the internet for information about autism therapy. One of the more sophisticated and expensive therapies they tried was hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT).

Coupled with a massive change in Callum’s diet, the intensive HBOT therapy had impressive results. “After three months, he started talking in sentences. He was compliant. His behaviour was really calm. And we realized that he was going to recover from autism,” said Lee Frost.

However, these hyperbaric chambers are not regulated, and some parents  purchase them for private use. Because of this high price tag, the pair decided to raise money in order to fund research to prove the science behind the treatment.

In May, Central City launched its Imperial IPA for Autism beer, with $2 from each bottle going to fund the SFU donation. Along with other fundraising initiatives, the two were able to raise $100,000 over their $400,000 goal.

The $500,000 donation will be used to establish the Callum Frost Professorship in Translational Research in Autism at SFU.

Peter Ruben, associate dean of research in SFU’s Faculty of Science, explained the importance of conducting research on previously unregulated medical therapies: “Tragically, people have died from these home hyperbaric chambers, so what we’re trying to do with this research is first figure out if it works to treat autism and other brain disorders.”

He continued, “Then [we will] try to get a handle on what specifically needs to happen for hyperbaric oxygen therapy to be effective.”

Instituted in 1981, the hyperbaric chamber at SFU is the only chamber in a Canadian academic institution that can be used for research. Chambers work by filling with air at a higher atmospheric pressure and a higher oxygen concentration, and have been used to treat diving disorders such as decompression sickness.

Although there has been some research done on the effects of HBOT on ‘normal’ brains, there hasn’t yet been a careful case-control study of the effects HBOT on autism.

“We don’t really know how it works or, for that matter, whether it works,” Ruben said. “One could hypothesize that HBOT increases the amount of circulating oxygen in the blood and therefore increases the amount of oxygen going to the brain.”

The hypothesis is that this would have a positive effect on tissue that has been damaged through traumatic brain injury or has not developed normally. “We can only guess that this increased oxygen concentration would help that brain tissue function more normally,” Ruben explained.

The newly established professorship will allow the university to add a faculty member who will specialize in studying brain disorders in general and autism in particular. Ruben said that he hopes to finalize the employment search soon, with the newly hired researcher beginning sometime in the next year.

Ruben emphasized how grateful he was for the support from the Frost family: “I think it’s going to be a really neat opportunity to put SFU on the forefront of this in terms of research.”

For the Frost family, they hope the research will support other families who are living with the daily challenges of autism. “We’re hoping that it enables other children to have the treatment and make the same progress as Callum,” concluded Lee Frost.