This is an application to establish a multidisciplinary Developmental Disabilities Prevention Research Center within a University Affiliated Program (UAP) to investigate critical problems of prevention and amelioration of developmental disabilities with a primary focus on myelin, CNS functional integrity, and critical influences on maturation, health, and human competency (especially the role of nutrition and its interactions with other pre- and postnatal environmental factors). The objectives of the UAB Developmental Disabilities Prevention Research Center are: (1) to conduct research to advance knowledge about the etiology, prevention, and treatment of developmental disabilities; (2) to enhance the research environment by providing high quality core support services; (3) to strengthen programmatic, multidisciplinary inquiry about myelinogenesis, CNS development, and developmental disabilities; (4) to foster new collaborations in promising areas and to recruit new investigators to the field; and (5) to promote timely dissemination of scientific discoveries. Four component research projects are proposed: Project I, Markers of myelinogenesis and nutritional status in high risk newborns and infants; Project II, Effects of material and fetal zinc and folate levels on CNS development; Project III, The role of nitric oxide (NO) in the development of synapses and myelination in the cortex; Project IV: Excitotoxic mechanisms in the developing brain. The proposed core units are: A, Administrative and Communications Core; B, Neurobiology Core; C, Human Subjects and Statistical Analysis Core. In addition, a specialized Myelin Assay Lab (embedded in Project I) will be available for multiple projects. The users of these core units will be the 4 component research projects plus 19 currently funded research projects (6 by NICHD). This proposal builds upon a long history of collaborative inquiry and commitment to developmental disabilities, as well as strong programs of interdisciplinary training and mentoring and a major consortium of programs and centers dedicated to the study of mental retardation and developmental disabilities research -- the Civitan International Research Center. The proposed Center has a unique capacity to conduct urine assays for myelin, unique availability of special proteins to conduct basic developmental neurobiological research related to myelinogenesis, and unique access to large-scale randomized trials of nutrition supplementation in high risk populations.
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