by Claudia Kalb

It’s another resignation for Autism Speaks, the largest autism research and advocacy group in the country. In January, Alison Singer, then executive vice president of communications and awareness, quit the group, saying she could no longer support the organization’s investment in vaccine research. This week, Dr. Eric London, a member of Autism Speaks’s Scientific Affairs Committee, follows in her footsteps. In his letter of resignation, London said that Autism Speaks’s argument that “there might be rare cases of ‘biologically-plausible’ vaccine involvement…are misleading and disingenuous.” He goes on to charge the organization with “adversely impacting” autism research.

The longstanding vaccine-autism debate has focused largely on a subset of parents, who believe immunizations triggered their children’s autism, and scientists, whose studies show the shots are not to blame. Now the controversy is morphing into an organizational rivalry. In April, Singer formed a new research group, The Autism Science Foundation (ASF); its board of directors includes Dr. Paul Offit, whose book, Autism’s False Prophets (Columbia University Press, 2008) slams what he calls the “bad science” around claims of an autism-vaccine link. Singer says the Foundation, whose first major fundraising event is planned for May 2010, is focused on genetic research, treatments and support services; it will not devote any dollars to vaccine research. London’s wife is co-founder of the Autism Science Foundation, and London himself has been a member of its Scientific Advisory Board since it was launched. It was ASF that announced London’s resignation this week, posting his letter prominently on their website. Clearly, ASF wants to make its differences known and build its brand.

Autism Speaks, which has awarded millions of dollars in research grants, isn’t making a big deal of the news. In a statement to NEWSWEEK, the organization said: “Autism Speaks is currently pursuing a broad program of research, including studies on both genetic and environmental risk factors and the development of new treatments. We believe that our broad agenda will ultimately provide answers to the cause and treatment of autism spectrum disorders. We wish Dr. London well in his new endeavor.”

More female video gamers are grabbing the controller this year, according to a report released yesterday by the  industry-tracking group NPD. The Gamer Augmentation 2009 report revealed that 28 percent of all console video gamers (those who play games on platforms like Wii, Playstation, and XBox) are now female, up from 23 percent last year. Less substantial research suggests that even more PC gamers are female, with  a Nielsen study indicating that women make up 50 percent of those who play video games on a computer. 

Despite the increasing number of women embracing video games, companies continue to ignore female players. Video-game site IGN recently ran a contest open only to males, offering a trip to Comic Con (in the face of online outrage, IGN opened the contest to women). Many female gamers felt further marginalized after the print version of Electronic Gaming Monthly folded and Dennis Publishing sent the men’s magazine Maxim to subscribers as a replacement.

These are just some of the most recent affronts to women gamers in the industry. Despite their increasingly strong presence, it appears that the only women game companies seem to be interested in are the scantily clad digital ones writhing on screens in games like Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance.

NEWSWEEK's Johannah Cornblatt talked to award-winning game designer Brenda Brathwaite about the progress that female developers and players have made in recent years, as well as the challenges they still face. Brathwaite, a 27-year veteran of the gaming industry, is a professor of game development and interactive design at the Savannah College of Art and Design and serves on the board of the International Game Developers Association. She was named one of the top 20 most influential women in the game industry by Gamasutra.com last year. A self-proclaimed “fighter not lover,” Brathwaite envisions a world of gaming where both men and women are welcome—and where the sex appeal extends to both scantily clad male and female characters. 

Excerpts after the jump.