]: The University of North Carolina Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (MRDDRC) is an integrated, multidisciplinary program to support and promote research relevant to understanding the pathogenesis and treatment/prevention of neurodevelopmental disorders. The University of North Carolina MRDDRC is the focal point for research and research training relevant to mental retardation and developmental disabilities on the University of North Carolina campus. This Center currently supports 40 investigators and 76 research projects (72 PHS) covering 32 of the 33 areas listed in the RFA for MRDD Research Centers, and representing a substantial increase over the last application. This broad-based research program is well integrated around an expanded portfolio of bio-behavioral research projects on neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, fragile X syndrome, neurofibromatosis and Turner syndrome, highlighted by the recent funding of an NIH Studies to Advance Autism Research and Treatment (STAART) Center. This expansion of bio-behavioral studies serves to integrate longstanding programs in basic biological and behavioral research relevant to mental retardation and developmental disabilities. Over the last five-year granting period the University of North Carolina MRDDRC has made substantial progress including (1) appointment of a new Director; (2) establishment of the MRDDRC within a new, independent University Center, """"""""The University of North Carolina Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research Center (NDRC)"""""""", with a mission fully consistent with that of the MRDDRC, (3) expansion of focus on bio-behavioral research and the integration of basic biological and behavioral studies; (4) establishment of an NIH (T32) Postdoctoral Research Training Program in Neurodevelopmental Disorders; and, (5) development of four new (proposed) research cores including The Developmental Neuroimaging Core (human in vivo neuroimaging and multiphoton/confocal microscopy), The Behavior Measurement Core (supporting both mouse behavioral phenotyping and specialized consultation on the measurement of selected human behaviors); the Microarray Gene Expression Core; and, the Subject Registry Core. Substantial modifications are also proposed for the Data Management and Statistical Analysis Core. These five research cores provide cutting-edge, high-quality and cost-effective support to this integrated, multidisciplinary program of MRDD research.
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