Funding is requested for a new interdisciplinary postdoctoral training program in Biobehavioral Intervention in Developmental Disabilities (BIDD). The goal of BIDD is to provide postdoctoral trainees with an understanding of the relationships between behavioral phenotypes and biological markers of specific developmental disabilities, and to define the predictive value of these relationships for eventually developing and applying successful interventions. BIDD will thus train a sophisticated, broadly based group of scientists who come from biomedical and behavioral doctoral programs or from medicine, and who are committed to translational research on mental retardation and other developmental disabilities. This novel, well-integrated program takes advantage of a community of Vanderbilt scientists who have actively developed interactive and collaborative research. The training faculty are committed to providing the necessary skills to facilitate integration of knowledge in human behavior, genetics, and developmental neurobiology. BIDD also builds on a tradition of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center and the Center for Human Genetics Research in promoting multi- and interdisciplinary behavioral and biomedical research in developmental disabilities. Under auspices of faculty from these two Centers, the BIDD program will provide the necessary framework for trainees to engage in complex studies of gene-environment interactions in development, risk factors, neurobiological and functional resiliency, and predictive models of successful intervention. The emerging field of biobehavioral intervention research requires an understanding of the principles of medicine and behavior in order to investigate the etiology and treatment of developmental disabilities. Funds are requested for 5 postdoctoral trainees annually. Trainees will experience intensive research training, along with a mixture of existing courses, seminars and workshops. In addition, trainees will take advantage of clinical experiences, in the form of rotations, which can be selected from existing genetics, autism, behavioral pediatric and educational clinics. Trainees will come from the fields of clinical medicine, genetics, developmental neurobiology, special education and psychology, reflecting the breadth of training faculty. BIDD includes research efforts that are particularly relevant to the goal of developing better tools for diagnosis and new interventions for children, adolescents and adults with developmental disabilities. The program will facilitate ongoing, interdisciplinary application of interventions, either behavioral (e.g. cognitive training) or biological (e.g. pharmacological), in the community.
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