Jeffrey R. Milbrandt, MD, PhD, the James S. McDonnell Professor and head of the Department of Genetics at Washington University School of Medicine, and Robi Mitra, PhD, the Alvin Goldfarb Professor of Computational Biology and a professor of genetics at Washington University School of Medicine, are leading a central project at Washington University’s Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC). The IDDRC, which is led by John N. Constantino, MD, Blanche F. Ittleson Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, and Christina A. Gurnett, MD, PhD, the A. Ernest and Jane G. Stein Professor of Developmental Neurology, was recently awarded $11.3 million in grants to study genetic and environmental factors that contribute to developmental disabilities and to find new ways to improve the lives of children and adults affected by such disabilities.
Dr. Milbrandt and Dr. Mitra’s project will use the cell-line models to identify mechanisms that cause problems in numerous genetic conditions associated with developmental disabilities. The pair’s goal is to identify targets for prevention and treatment that might benefit large numbers of individuals at risk, not just those who have rare genetic conditions.
Read more about the IDDRC here.