RESEARCH
2/22/2023
Alzheimer's Progression in Down Syndrome Appears Similar to Other Genetic, Early Onset Forms of the Disease
NIH-funded study suggests people with Down syndrome may benefit from Alzheimer's disease treatments. The study was conducted by Beau Ances, M.D., Ph.D., of Washington University in St. Louis, and colleagues from the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN) and the Alzheimer's Biomarkers Consortium-Down Syndrome (ABC-DS).
2/21/2023
Virtual Reality May Help Smooth Out Disconnects Between Vision and Hearing
Sensory inputs that neurotypical people perceive as simultaneous are sometimes perceived as separate in autistic individuals, such as the sight and sound of a bouncing ball. Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (IDDRC, UCEDD, LEND) researchers are now closely examining the ways autistic brains perform when it comes to processing and merging visual, auditory, and tactile information. The step may lay the foundation for interventions to improve sensory integration.
2/15/2023
Clinician, Researcher Lead New Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center in Iowa
Ted Abel, PhD, and Lane Strathearn, MBBS, PhD, are leading one of only 15 federally funded intellectual and developmental disabilities research centers in the country. The new Hawk-IDDRC [Hawkeye Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center] integrates the efforts of researchers in the Iowa Neuroscience Institute (INI) and clinicians in the Center for Disabilities and Development (CDD), part of University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital, to connect basic and clinical research across the lifespan.
2/6/2023
Rates of Autism Increase, but Numbers Don't Paint the Full Picture
Headlines over the past 20 years have signaled ever-increasing recognition of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Now, in a new article published in Autism, IDDRC network researchers describe their own estimates of how many children across Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's (CHOP) Primary Care Network have been diagnosed with ASD. What they found highlights the importance of tracking and unpacking the numbers of diagnoses to identify areas for continued improvement.
1/30/2023
Federal surveys fail to count 20 to 43% of individuals who are disabled
A recent study at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital used SPARK data to identify a new class of moderate-effect genes that are associated with less likelihood of intellectual disability and may reveal more about autism and brain development.
1/27/2023
Biomarkers Can Help Improve Clinical Trials for Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Sara Jane Webb, University of Washington IDDRC
In the past decade, many large-scale randomized controlled pharmaceutical clinical trials for children with neurodevelopmental disorders have struggled to demonstrate child clinical changes. In a recent study, researchers from University of Washington IDDRC discuss how biomarkers can help improve clinical trials for children with neurodevelopmental disorders.
1/20/2023
SPARK Uncovers Moderate-effect Genes that Cause Autism
A recent study at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital-one of AUCD's Intellectual and Developmental Disability Research Centers or IDDRCs-used SPARK data to identify a new class of moderate-effect genes that are associated with less likelihood of intellectual disability and may reveal more about autism and brain development.
1/12/2023
JFK Partners Approved for $2,780,297 Million for a Study Comparing Approaches of Two School-Based Interventions to Manage Anxiety in Autistic Students
Funds awarded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
A research team at University of Colorado School of Medicine, JFK Partners, led by Judy Reaven, Ph.D. has been approved for a $2,780,297 million funding award by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to study A Comparison of Two School-Based Interventions to Manage Anxiety in Autistic Students.
1/12/2023
UCCEDD Receives NIDILRR Grant to Study Ableism
The National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) has awarded the University of Cincinnati Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCCEDD) at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) a Field Initiative (FI) Project Grant to study the impacts of internalized, interpersonal, and systemic ableism in healthcare services and systems.
12/21/2022
Brain networks associated with intellectual development in autistic children
Christine Wu Nordahl and Marjorie Solomon
Because of this, very little is known about how brain development differs between autistic individuals with and without intellectual disability. Identifying brain differences between these groups could be useful in helping us to better understand autism, in predicting outcomes and in guiding the selection of appropriate supports. The UC Davis MIND Institute Autism Phenome Project (APP) [MRS1]�is a longitudinal study that that has been following a cohort of autistic children from 3 years of age through late adolescence (age 18).
12/5/2022
$3M Award to Boost IDD Research at KU
The University of Kansas has awarded the KU Life Span Institute a $3 million grant to expand the organization's capacity, staff, recruitment, and training in intellectual and developmental disability research.
12/5/2022
Va-LEND Assistant Director Presents at the Division for Early Childhood and International Society on Early Intervention Fall Joint Conference
Collaboration, teamwork, and leadership are fundamental to Va-LEND. Jackie Robinson Brock, MSW and Assistant Director of Virginia Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (Va-LEND), demonstrated them all at the annual Division for Early Childhood (DEC) and International Society on Early Intervention (ISEI) Joint Conference held in Chicago this past fall.
11/28/2022
Autism research is a family affair: Steps toward increasing inclusion and diversity
As a research team working with children and adolescents with autism in the Bronx, a racially, ethnically and culturally diverse borough of New York City, we have seen the significant barriers to research participation that families in our area face. Research is an essential step toward improving outcomes of individuals with autism. When research involves children, parents and caregivers make major contributions to the study process by enrolling their children in research, carving out time to bring their children to the research setting, and providing important information about the child's strengths, needs, and developmental and intervention histories. Unfortunately, the racial and ethnic diversity of the US population is not well-represented in many research studies and research findings often do not generalize to excluded groups. This lack of representation in research contributes to health disparities.
10/25/2022
FDA Grants Special Designation to Friedreich's Ataxia Treatment
A potential new therapy for the progressive neurological disorder, Friedreich's Ataxia (FA) was granted Fast Track Designation and Orphan Drug Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration based on study findings led by a neurologist at CHOP which is one of AUCD's Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities Research Centers.
10/17/2022
New Co-Director of the Washington University in St Louis IDDRC
Joseph Dougherty, PhD., Professor of Genetics and Psychiatry at Washington University in St Louis, will join Dr. Christina Gurnett, MD, PhD as the Co-Director of the Washington University Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center ([email protected]). He will replace John N. Constantino who has assumed the role as Children's Healthcare of Atlanta's first system chief of Behavioral and Mental Health, and Emory University School of Medicine professor in the Departments of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Pediatrics.