Symposium marks research center opening

A symposium to celebrate the opening of the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center at Washington University will be held Tuesday, March 1.

The center, established last year with a five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health, focuses on research to prevent and treat developmental disabilities in children. Special emphasis is placed on clinical and translational research as well as on reaching out to families and the community with resources and services.

The symposium, which is free and open to the public, will be held at the Eric P. Newman Education Center at the School of Medicine from 12:30-5 p.m. A reception will follow.

Larry J. Shapiro, MD, executive vice chancellor and dean of the School of Medicine, and Alan L. Schwartz, PhD, MD, the Harriet B. Spoehrer Professor and head of Pediatrics will give opening remarks. Terrie E. Inder, MBChB, MD, director of the IDDRC and professor of pediatrics, of neurology and of radiology, and Jeffrey J. Neil, MD, PhD, the Allen P. and Josephine B. Green Professor of Neurology and professor of radiology, will give an overview of the center. Joseph J. Volpe, MD, the Bronson Crothers Distinguished Professor of Neurology at Children’s Hospital Boston and a pioneer of neonatal neurology, will give the keynote address.

Other sessions on insights into the science of developmental disabilities include:

  • Cerebral connectivity, by Bradley L. Schlaggar, MD, PhD, the A. Ernest and Jane G. Stein Associate Professor of Neurology and associate professor of pediatrics, of radiology and of neurobiology; and David C. Van Essen, PhD, the Edison Professor of Neurobiology and head of the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology;
  • Genetics, by Andrew C. Heath, PhD, the Spencer T. Olin Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry and associate professor of genetics; and Mark S. Sands, PhD, professor of genetics and of medicine;
  • Environmental influences, by John W. Olney, MD, the John P. Feighner Professor of Psychiatry and professor of pathology and immunology; and Jose A. Pineda, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics and of neurology.

RSVP by Feb. 21 to iddrc@mga.wustl.edu or 454-7162.