Gatlinburg Conference on Research in ID/DD

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The Gatlinburg Conference on Research in ID/DD is an annual scientific meeting designed to advance translational biobehavioral research on intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The meeting provides a forum for investigators at all career stages to present and discuss cutting-edge biobehavioral research and theory. The conference focuses on communicating state-of-the-art advances in our understanding of the causes and consequences of various disorders involving intellectual disability, as well as to reveal new interventions designed to ameliorate specific disorders. Each year’s conference has a scientific theme that is explored through plenary lectures, although symposia or poster sessions address a broad range of topics on IDD from basic to translational and applied science. The themes are designed to expose participants to theoretical frameworks, methods, and findings from other disciplines and fields of study, including from basic and translational neuroscience, as well as fields focused on cultural influences on development and IDD. Historically, the specific aims of the Gatlinburg Conference have been to (a) promote the exchange of scientific findings, theoretical perspectives, and methodological innovations and thereby accelerate, and encourage innovation in, translational research on IDD, (b) facilitate collaborative interdisciplinary research on IDD, (c) ensure that biobehavioral scientists are exposed to relevant translational and basic science findings, methods, and perspectives from neurobiology and medicine, thereby enriching their research and further supporting interdisciplinarity, and (d) serve as an interdisciplinary training and career development resource for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and early career faculty. More recently the aims have been modified to include goals to increase the diversity of the IDD research community by supporting the development of early career scientists from under-represented groups. These successful aims are largely unchanged from the previously funded application; however, the current proposal includes several innovations related to communication of science to nonscientific audiences, and an emphasis on rigor and reproducibility in research, both of which dovetail well with the conference’s longstanding emphasis on the development of junior scientists.