Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Centers

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT This P50 award will continue to support the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC), which has been central to the scientific enterprise at the Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI) and Johns Hopkins University (JHU) for over 30 years—supporting investigators seeking to understand, treat and ameliorate the adverse impact of intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), and to disseminate discoveries to the public toward a goal of prevention. The IDDRC continues to be structured around five Cores: (1) Administrative; (2) Clinical Translational; (3) Genomics; (4) Neuroimaging; and, (5) Behavioral Phenotyping, as well an integrated Research Project examining the role of sleep, circadian dysfunction, and brain development in children with autism. The Center's organization and Core structure are aligned with the research priorities of the NICHD IDD branch, including understanding etiology and complex comorbidities of IDD; improving early identification and screening; identification of biomarkers and outcome measures; understanding natural history; and translation of discovery to treatment and, ultimately, to public policy—all with a goal of prevention. The Center's translational science theme centers on progressing knowledge along the continuum from “labs to clinics to communities.” In keeping with these goals, this Center's aims promote translational science along the full continuum of T4 translation. This emphasis is employed throughout the Center, with added importance on dissemination through the Administrative Core via links to the Institute's UCEDD (Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities) and Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) programs. The Center's aims are to: (1) provide infrastructure, expertise, and services necessary to promote and facilitate interdisciplinary research in the field of IDD; (2) act as the vehicle through which inter-institutional partnerships (including inter-IDDRC partnerships) addressing IDD research are developed and implemented; (3) provide training and technical assistance opportunities related to scientific inquiry within the field of IDD; and (4) serve as a hub (both locally and nationally) for translation and dissemination of scientific discoveries related to IDD toward the goal of informing (and ultimately shaping) public policy.