Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM IDDRC) is committed to advancing IDD research and therapies to help resolve the problems encountered by individuals with IDD, their families, and caregivers. It is one of the 15 Eunice Kennedy Shriver Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Centers (EKS-IDDRCs) funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

For over 30 years, our Center’s advanced core services have supported the discovery of genetic bases for numerous IDDs and the development of animal models for pathogenesis and preclinical studies, resulting in novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. Through collaborations with national and international institutions, we have played a major role in defining best practices for rigorous and reproducible model investigations. These efforts have positioned our Center as a multidisciplinary, collaborative, and influential leader in IDD research.

The BCM IDDRC goals, shared with the mission of the IDD Branch and the broader IDDRC network, are to identify the causes of intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs), to study these disorders, to develop safe therapies that improve the lives of affected individuals, to engage with IDD communities, and to train the next generation of researchers. Overall, the Center’s activities, investigators, research projects, and cores model a framework of academic-community engagement. We promote interaction between patient advocates and investigators locally and across the IDDRC network. By providing access to cost-effective resources that foster multidisciplinary, collaborative, and translational research, along with close collaboration between basic and clinical researchers, our Center has accelerated the translation of basic research findings into clinical applications for diagnosis and treatment.