Core Services

Eunice Kennedy Shriver Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC)

The UNC IDDRC, a major component of the NDRC, is one of 14 Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Centers in the U.S. The IDDRC at UNC was first established in 1967 by a P30 grant from the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). This P30 grant maintains five research core facilities, throughout the UNC campus, to support funded investigators conducting research relevant to understanding the pathogenesis and treatment of mental retardation and developmental disabilities. The IDDRC at The University of North Carolina provides core research and administrative support to bring together a diverse group of investigators throughout the University environment. Center investigators come from over 15 Departments throughout the campus including Cell and Molecular Physiology, Cell and Developmental Biology, Biochemistry and Biophysics, Microbiology and Immunology, Neurology, Psychiatry, Pediatrics, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Pharmacology, Psychology, Nutrition, Epidemiology, Computer Science, Allied Health Sciences, Social Medicine and Genetics. The IDDRC provides a focal point for bringing together investigators from five major University colleges and schools including Medicine, Arts and Sciences, Education, Nursing and Public Health.

Major research themes in the IDDRC include:

• Gene-brain-behavior relationships in neurogenetic syndromes
• Basic Neuroscience
• Behavioral development in normal and at risk populations
• Interventions — including Psychopharmacology, Early Educ/
  Behavioral Intervention & Studies of Service Delivery &
  Cultural Factors in MRDD.