The North Carolina Mental Retardation Research Center (MRRC) represents a diverse and coordinated programmatic endeavor to advance knowledge concerning the etiology and treatment of mental retardation. The causes of mental retardation and developmental disabilities are multiple. The few hundred suspected or identified causes of mental retardation almost certainly represent only a minor fraction of the total number of causes. Such causes have traditionally been divided into biological and psychosocial. Many moderate to severe conditions of mental retardation have biological causes identifiable with the currently available technology, while biological causes of the majority of less severe mental retardation are unknown within the limits of available knowledge and technology. The boundary between biological and psychosocial factors in mental retardation is getting less distinct not only because progress in biological sciences can identify more causes but more importantly because there is increasing awareness of the importance of interactive influence of psychological events on biology and of biological illnesses on psychological consequences. This broad-based approach remains the guiding principle of the MRRC. Thus, our research programs encompass the broadest range of concepts, disciplines and methodologies from social and behavioral sciences to fundamental molecular genetics and developmental neurobiology. The majorities of the research projects in the MRRC are conducted in two University Centers: the Brain and Development Research Center (BDRC, Director: Kunihiko Suzuki) and the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center (FPG, Director: Donald Bailey). The MRRC operates as an integral program that seeks to establish an optimal interdisciplinary environment by providing an Administrative Core and four scientific core units: the Computer Support Core (Director: Richard Mailman), the Design and Statistical Computing Core (Director: Ronald Helms), the Observational Methods Core (Director to be named) and the Morphology-Pathology Core (Directors: Kinuko Suzuki and Thomas Bouldin). The last two Core Units are being proposed for scientific reasons as new Core facilities to replace two existing Core Units. These research efforts are augmented by existing training programs in mental retardation and related fields, a State- supported Genetic Counseling Program, and a visiting lecturer seminar series initiated during the current funding period (Hal Robinson Distinguished Lectureship). The UNC-Chapel Hill and the State of North Carolina provide extensive support to the MRRC. By efficiently coordinating specialized core support services and by providing a common administrative framework to these diverse research programs, the MRRC achieves a cost-effective means for conducting research that seeks for eventual understanding, treatment, and prevention of mental retardation.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Center Core Grants (P30)
Project #
5P30HD003110-27
Application #
2194811
Study Section
Mental Retardation Research Committee (HDMR)
Project Start
1977-09-01
Project End
1998-07-31
Budget Start
1994-08-01
Budget End
1995-07-31
Support Year
27
Fiscal Year
1994
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
078861598
City
Chapel Hill
State
NC
Country
United States
Zip Code
27599
Jha, Shaili C; Xia, Kai; Schmitt, James Eric et al. (2018) Genetic influences on neonatal cortical thickness and surface area. Hum Brain Mapp 39:4998-5013
Barstein, Jamie; Martin, Gary E; Lee, Michelle et al. (2018) A Duck Wearing Boots?! Pragmatic Language Strategies for Repairing Communication Breakdowns Across Genetically Based Neurodevelopmental Disabilities. J Speech Lang Hear Res 61:1440-1454
Woodbury-Smith, Marc; Paterson, Andrew D; O'Connor, Irene et al. (2018) A genome-wide linkage study of autism spectrum disorder and the broad autism phenotype in extended pedigrees. J Neurodev Disord 10:20
DuBay, Michaela; Watson, Linda R; Zhang, Wanqing (2018) In Search of Culturally Appropriate Autism Interventions: Perspectives of Latino Caregivers. J Autism Dev Disord 48:1623-1639
Sterling, Audra; Warren, Steven F (2018) Parenting of children with Down syndrome compared to fragile X syndrome. Dev Neurorehabil 21:64-67
Klusek, Jessica; Porter, Anna; Abbeduto, Leonard et al. (2018) Curvilinear Association Between Language Disfluency and FMR1 CGG Repeat Size Across the Normal, Intermediate, and Premutation Range. Front Genet 9:344
Adlof, Suzanne M; Klusek, Jessica; Hoffmann, Anne et al. (2018) Reading in Children With Fragile X Syndrome: Phonological Awareness and Feasibility of Intervention. Am J Intellect Dev Disabil 123:193-211
Mostapha, Mahmoud; Shen, Mark D; Kim, SunHyung et al. (2018) A Novel Framework for the Local Extraction of Extra-Axial Cerebrospinal Fluid from MR Brain Images. Proc SPIE Int Soc Opt Eng 10574:
Swanson, Meghan R; Wolff, Jason J; Shen, Mark D et al. (2018) Development of White Matter Circuitry in Infants With Fragile X Syndrome. JAMA Psychiatry 75:505-513
Swanson, Meghan R; Shen, Mark D; Wolff, Jason J et al. (2018) Naturalistic Language Recordings Reveal ""Hypervocal"" Infants at High Familial Risk for Autism. Child Dev 89:e60-e73

Showing the most recent 10 out of 376 publications