New name is a better fit for Center's growing program

"The new name more adequately describes our programs and activities," explains Dr. Michael Guralnick, director of the CHDD and professor of psychology and pediatrics. "The Center has increasingly adopted a life span approach to developmental disabilities. We've retained the emphasis on development in young children, while extending our involvement with school-age children, adolescents and adults and, most recently, elders with developmental disabilities." "Our name change coincides with a period of rapid growth for the Center. We have new scientific core facilities, and new research affiliates who are working more closely than ever on interdisciplinary research issues and on fostering the connection between clinicians and researchers. We've added clinical and community outreach programs and expanded linkages to other departments around campus. This continuing expansion will enable us to reach more and more people with developmental disabilities and better address high priority research topics."

Research at the CHDD, like the other Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Centers (MRDDRCs) around the nation, was originally directed at studying the underlying causes of mental retardation. "Mental retardation was the prototype developmental disability when the centers were established, but interest has broadened to include a wide array of developmental disabilities," Guralnick points out.

Nearly 130 CHDD research affiliates in the Center's MRDDRC collaborate on studies of biomedical and behavioral processes that cause or are associated with developmental disabilities. Affiliates work within six major areas of research to understand normal and abnormal human development.

Research affiliates in the Teratology Program are investigating the mechanisms that lead to congenital defects when pregnant women are exposed to certain drugs and chemicals. Affiliates in the Developmental and Molecular Genetics Program are studying genetic factors that account for a large number of developmental disabilities and investigating prospects for gene therapy. CHDD research affiliates in the Perinatal Biology Program are learning about the causes and outcomes of premature births. They are also studying ways to prevent preterm births and seeking to determine the best treatments for infants born prematurely.

Affiliates in the Developmental Neuroscience Program are investigating processes involved in normal and abnormal development of the central nervous system including the role of genes, the expression of neurotrophic factors and neurotransmitters, the plasticity of neural systems and the possibility that regeneration and transplantation procedures may restore function.

Knowledge about sensory, motor, cognitive and language processes is fundamental to designing therapies and interventions to enhance development. Affiliates in the Developmental Processes Program are investigating these areas, as well as how to foster good family and peer relationships, factors that have long been recognized to play a key role in child development. Affiliates in the Biomedical and Behavioral Outcome and Intervention Program are working to better understand biologic or environmental conditions that can cause adverse health and developmental outcomes. They are also examining the effectiveness of interventions that have been designed to improve those outcomes.

The CHDD is one of the few centers in the United States in which a MRDDRC and a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) are together in one integrated comprehensive program. Major components of the UCEDD include the Adolescent Health Unit, Clinical Training Unit, Experimental Education Unit, Pediatric Genetics Program, Assistive Technology Program, Adults and Elders Program, Pediatric Neurology Program, and Community Policy Institute on Disabilities. Each of these components is involved in one or more UCEDD activities, which aim to increase and support the independence, productivity and integration into the community of people with developmental disabilities.

In the UCEDD, the CHDD trains professionals within an interdisciplinary framework to meet the needs of people with disabilities. About 150 graduate-level trainees participate in the CHDD interdisciplinary training programs each year, preparing them to take leadership roles in the field of developmental disabilities.

The Center's UCEDD also provides services for individuals with a wide variety of developmental problems and develops model programs to be used in the community. Every year approximately 2,000 people with developmental disabilities and their families receive clinical and educational services through the Center's UCEDD programs, either at CHDD or in the community.

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