This application is designed to provide for didactic and research training for four predoctoral and six postdoctoral trainees annually in the problems and methods of interdisciplinary research in mental retardation and developmental disabilities (MRDD). Training will primarily take place in laboratories and field settings of the six major research groups at the UCLA Mental Retardation Research Center (MRRC): Molecular and Developmental Neuroscience, Neurobiochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Systems Neuroscience, Plasticity and Behavior, Sociobehavior, and Developmental Disabilities Clinical Research. MRRC faculty members approach problems in MRDD from a number of different disciplinary viewpoints supported by nine scientific and service core facilities funded by an NICHD Center Core Grant as well as University support. This problem-oriented and interdisciplinary approach will be emphasized in the formal didactic training program. The MRRC faculty has undergone an extensive renewal during the last several years, a number of them retired or left, and thirteen new faculty members were recruited to the MRRC from outside or from campus departments. The three highest priority areas for development at UCLA School of Medicine are: neuroscience, human genetics, and aging. A Department of Human Genetics has been formed, and a new Neuroscience and Human Genetics Research Building has opened. These will provide for enriching the MRRC research and training relevant to MRDD. A designed program of classes and seminars will serve 1) to introduce the research trainees to the nature and range of problems in the area of mental retardation and developmental disabilities; 2) to facilitate trainees with access to the ideas and methods of disciplines other than their own; 3) to provide forums for initiating cross-disciplinary discussion, and 4) to enable trainees to extend their knowledge in their own fields of specialization. Postdoctoral candidates must have Ph.D.s in relevant discipline or have M.D.s and intend to devote their careers to biomedical research. Predoctoral candidates will have been accepted as graduate students in Ph.D. programs in which members of the MRRC are affiliated. Predoctoral candidates will have completed one or more years of graduate education. It is anticipated that trainees will pursue research careers that focus on mental retardation or related developmental problems. They will assume positions in medical schools, in research institutes and hospitals, and in traditional academic departments.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Institutional National Research Service Award (T32)
Project #
5T32HD007032-29
Application #
7247220
Study Section
Pediatrics Subcommittee (CHHD)
Program Officer
Vitkovic, Ljubisa
Project Start
1977-07-01
Project End
2009-04-30
Budget Start
2007-05-01
Budget End
2008-04-30
Support Year
29
Fiscal Year
2007
Total Cost
$343,045
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California Los Angeles
Department
Psychiatry
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
092530369
City
Los Angeles
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
90095
Sun, Deqiang; Luo, Min; Jeong, Mira et al. (2014) Epigenomic profiling of young and aged HSCs reveals concerted changes during aging that reinforce self-renewal. Cell Stem Cell 14:673-88
Gaber, Zachary B; Butler, Samantha J; Novitch, Bennett G (2013) PLZF regulates fibroblast growth factor responsiveness and maintenance of neural progenitors. PLoS Biol 11:e1001676
Hutman, Ted; Chela, Mandeep K; Gillespie-Lynch, Kristen et al. (2012) Selective visual attention at twelve months: signs of autism in early social interactions. J Autism Dev Disord 42:487-98
Bill, Brent R; Geschwind, Daniel H (2009) Genetic advances in autism: heterogeneity and convergence on shared pathways. Curr Opin Genet Dev 19:271-8
Kelly, Theresa K; Karsten, Stanislav L; Geschwind, Daniel H et al. (2009) Cell lineage and regional identity of cultured spinal cord neural stem cells and comparison to brain-derived neural stem cells. PLoS One 4:e4213
Konopka, Genevieve; Bomar, Jamee M; Winden, Kellen et al. (2009) Human-specific transcriptional regulation of CNS development genes by FOXP2. Nature 462:213-7
Miller, Julie E; Spiteri, Elizabeth; Condro, Michael C et al. (2008) Birdsong decreases protein levels of FoxP2, a molecule required for human speech. J Neurophysiol 100:2015-25
Gray, Michelle; Shirasaki, Dyna I; Cepeda, Carlos et al. (2008) Full-length human mutant huntingtin with a stable polyglutamine repeat can elicit progressive and selective neuropathogenesis in BACHD mice. J Neurosci 28:6182-95
Lobo, Mary Kay; Yeh, Christopher; Yang, X William (2008) Pivotal role of early B-cell factor 1 in development of striatonigral medium spiny neurons in the matrix compartment. J Neurosci Res 86:2134-46
Spiteri, Elizabeth; Konopka, Genevieve; Coppola, Giovanni et al. (2007) Identification of the transcriptional targets of FOXP2, a gene linked to speech and language, in developing human brain. Am J Hum Genet 81:1144-57

Showing the most recent 10 out of 22 publications