Two University of Michigan researchers were among several individuals honored by Vice President Joe Biden at the White House today for "transforming the American economy through innovation" to accelerate significant advances in science and technology.

U-M autism researcher Catherine Lord and School of Public Health investigator Goncalo Abecasis received in-person honors.

Lord, director of the U-M Autism and Communication Disorders Center and a U-M professor of psychology and psychiatry, was honored for her work on changing the way children are tested for autism. She has used money from the 2009 American Recovery and Investment Act to cut a normal three-hour test down to a 30-minute test. And the test is now able to be administered by a nurse or social worker, not just a medical doctor.

Abecasis and his team are using their ARRA funding to help simplify and reduce the cost of human genome technology.

Abecasis told U-M’s News Service that the first Human Genome project, led by a former U-M researcher, cost $2.7 billion a decade ago, and today a complete sequence costs about $50,000. U-M is working to cut that cost to about $1,000 so human genome sequences could eventually "be used widely in health care." Patients could be tested years in advance to begin preventive treatment of diseases before they occur.

• Watch a video of Lord talking about autism.

David Jesse covers higher education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at davidjesse@annarbor.com or at 734-623-2534.