Mental Retardation Research Center

描述(由申请人提供)：本申请是为了继续支持加州大学洛杉矶分校智障研究中心(MRRC)的行政和研究中心。这个MRRC最初成立于1969年，与儿童精神病学系一起设在神经精神病学研究所的四层楼内。它将于明年3月搬到一座新的五层神经科学研究大楼。该研究中心在精神发育迟滞和发育障碍(MRDD)领域提供全面的多学科研究计划。中心调查人员开展的调查涉及NICHD为MRDD研究中心发布的当前RFA中列出的31项MRRD研究优先事项中的26项。该中心的长期目标是寻找预防精神发育迟滞的方法，并改善智力发育迟滞和其他发育障碍个人的生活质量。为了实现这一目标，组织了四个多学科研究小组：临床研究、细胞和分子神经科学和神经遗传学、系统神经科学和社会行为研究。为了通过研究人员之间的跨学科互动促进研究创新，组织了五个核心：(A)行政和通信，(B)神经科学和成像，(C)动物模型，(D)功能神经基因组学和生物信息学，以及(E)实地工作培训和定性数据。此外，该应用程序还建议支持一个新程序开发项目。每个核心都旨在为研究人员提供综合方法，以支持他们的多学科研究项目，从实验设计到数据管理和出版。这是通过几名在相关科学学科和技术方面具有专业知识的教职员工直接参与每个核心工作来实现的，他们作为一个团队而不是作为一项技术的单一提供者工作。该中心的使命是提供一个环境，促进研究人员之间的互动，并开放获取尖端和高效的核心服务，从而促进最高水平的研究。该中心高度重视对有才华的年轻研究人员的支持以及对与其目标有关的各种学科的博士后和博士后研究员的培训。该中心的使命得益于与加州大学洛杉矶分校十多个系和研究所的教职员工的紧密联系，这些教职员工在神经科学、遗传学、成像、分子生物学、心理学、精神病学、神经学、神经外科、药理学、儿科学、教育学、人类学等领域表现出色。虽然重点仍需放在MRDD的分子、细胞和行为机制上，但目标是与世界各地的MRDD科学家合作，将这些基础知识转化为最终可应用于临床护理的新的诊断、预防和治疗方法。

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.