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  4. AUCD Recognizes CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities with the 2011 Outstanding Organizational Achievement Award

AUCD Recognizes CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities with the 2011 Outstanding Organizational Achievement Award

November 15, 2011

Website Link  http://www.aucd.org/template/news.cfm?news_id=7355&id=17

The Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) honored the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with its Outstanding Organizational Achievement Award.  The award was part of the AUCD Awards Ceremony and Gala to celebrate AUCD's 40th Anniversary Conference in Crystal City, VA, on November 6-9. The Conference had a record attendance of over 630 researchers, faculty, self-advocates, parents, and trainees from the AUCD network of interdisciplinary centers and programs in the field of disabilities.

This year's award commemorates a decade of outstanding NCBDDD service and effectiveness in improving the lives of children and adults with disabilities.  Coleen A. Boyle, PhD, MSHyg, Director of NCBDDD, accepted the award and emphasized collaborative work to advance the health and well-being of America's most vulnerable populations.  The Outstanding Organizational Achievement Award is presented to a federal, non-profit, or for-profit agency or organization that has had a transformational impact on improving the quality of life of individuals with disabilities and their families or the fields of disability research, education, or service.

The National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities of CDC has, since its beginning in 2001 as a result of The Children's Health Act of 2000, served as a focal point for the intersection of public health and disabilities. The Center's work has impacted individuals with disabilities across the life span from pre-natal primary prevention, to adult health promotion and prevention of secondary disabling and chronic conditions. NCBDDD has conducted a wide scope of activities efforts, detecting early hearing loss, identifying children with developmental disabilities including autism, promoting optimal child development, helping to accommodate emergency disaster procedures to the needs of those with disabilities and providing resource information and assistance across a variety of disabilities and health conditions. In short the Center has worked  toward making health services more accessible to all. The Center has also had a profound impact on the AUCD network serving as a catalyst for critical research, public health information and leadership development opportunities.

AUCD is a nonprofit network of university-based interdisciplinary centers and programs working to advance policy and practices for people living with disabilities and their families.  For more information, visit www.aucd.org.