Mental Retardation Research Center

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application is for continued support of the administrative and research cores of the UCLA Mental Retardation Research Center (MRRC). This MRRC was first established in 1969 and housed with the Department of Child Psychiatry in a four-floor addition to the Neuropsychiatric Institute. It will move next March to a new five-story neuroscience research building. This MRRC provides a comprehensive multidisciplinary research program in the field of mental retardation and developmental disabilities (MRDD). The investigations carried out by the Center investigators address 26 of the 31 MRRD research priorities listed in the current RFA issued by NICHD for MRDD Research Centers. The long-term goals of the Center are to discover ways to prevent mental retardation, and to improve the quality of life for mentally retarded and other developmentally disabled individuals. To accomplish this, four multidisciplinary research groups have been organized: Clinical Research, Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience and Neurogenetics, Systems Neuroscience, and Socio-Behavioral Research. To foster research innovation through interdisciplinary interactions among investigators, five cores have been organized: (A) Administration and Communications, (B) Neuroscience and Imaging, (C) Animal Models, (D) Functional Neurogenomics and Bioinformatics, and (E) Fieldwork Training and Qualitative Data. In addition, this application proposes support for a New Program Development project. Each of the cores is designed to offer investigators an integrated approach to support their multidisciplinary research projects from experimental design to data management and publication. This is achieved by the direct involvement in each core of several faculty and staff with expertise in the relevant scientific disciplines and techniques, working as a team rather than as a single provider of a technique. The mission of the Center is to provide an environment promoting the highest level of research in MRDD by fostering interaction among investigators and providing open access to cutting edge and efficient core services. The Center assigns high priority to the support of talented young investigators and the training of pre- and post-doctoral fellows in a variety of disciplines related to its goals. The Center's mission is facilitated by strong tie with faculty in more than ten departments and institutes at UCLA, excelling in neuroscience, genetics, imaging, molecular biology, psychology, psychiatry, neurology, neurosurgery, pharmacology, pediatrics, education, anthropology, and others. While the focus needs to be still on the molecular, cellular, and behavioral mechanisms of MRDD, the aim is to collaborate with MRDD scientists worldwide to translate this fundamental knowledge into novel diagnostic, preventive, and therapeutic approaches which can be ultimately applied to clinical care.