Mental Retardation News and Research

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MPFI scientist receives NIH's Pioneer Award

Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience Scientific Director, Ryohei Yasuda, has received the National Institute of Health's Pioneer Award, which recognizes scientists who have demonstrated creativity and groundbreaking approaches in biomedical or behavioral science.

7 Oct 2015

Intrexon, Synthetic Biologics form ECC to develop and commercialize novel biotherapeutics for phenylketonuria

Intrexon Corporation, a leader in synthetic biology, and Synthetic Biologics, Inc., a clinical-stage company focused on developing therapeutics to protect the microbiome while targeting pathogen-specific diseases, today announced an Exclusive Channel Collaboration (ECC) to pursue the development and commercialization of novel biotherapeutics for the treatment of patients with phenylketonuria (PKU), a serious and debilitating metabolic disorder.

10 Aug 2015

UC Davis health economists predict total costs of caring for individuals with ASD in the U.S.

UC Davis health economists have for the first time projected the total costs of caring for all people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the U.S. for the current calendar year and in 10 years if effective interventions and preventive treatments for the condition are not identified and widely available.

29 Jul 2015

Study finds mechanism that identifies cause of intellectual disabilities in autism, Rett syndrome

The term intellectual disability covers a large number of clinical entities, some with known cause and others of uncertain origin. For example Down syndrome is due to an extra copy of chromosome 21 and Rett syndrome is in part caused by a mutation in the control switch gene called MeCP2.

21 Jul 2015

Scientists discover protein that plays significant role in development of fragile X syndrome

Scientists at VIB and KU Leuven have discovered that the protein APP plays a significant role in the development of fragile X syndrome (FXS) at young stages. They identified an unexpected biological pathway as a promising target to ameliorate deficits associated with FXS and autism. The results have recently been published in Neuron, one of the most influential journals in the field of neuroscience.

16 Jul 2015

Cysticercosis now fully controlled in Mexico

Dr. Ana Flisser was recognized for 40 years of research regarding this disease. The parasite can not be eradicated; however, it is important to present simple preventive measures.

13 Jul 2015

TSRI scientists awarded $2.1 million grant to study protein closely linked to Parkinson's disease

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have been awarded $2.1 million from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of The National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study a protein that has been closely linked in animal models to Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease.

10 Jun 2015

SDSU researchers awarded NIH grant to understand how autism plays out across the lifespan

In the public consciousness, autism spectrum disorder only affects children. In truth, ASD is a lifelong condition. But how it affects older adults is a gaping unknown in autism research. Now, a new and significant grant from the National Institutes of Health will help researchers at San Diego State University understand how the disorder plays out across the lifespan.

29 May 2015

UC Davis researchers settle long-standing controversy surrounding Canavan disease

UC Davis investigators have settled a long-standing controversy surrounding the molecular basis of an inherited disorder that historically affected Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe but now also arises in other populations of Semitic descent, particularly families from Saudi Arabia.

28 Apr 2015

Researchers identify potential treatment target for fragile X carriers

Fragile X syndrome, an inherited cause of autism and intellectual disability, can have consequences even for carriers of the disorder who don't have full-blown symptoms.

25 Apr 2015

Biologists discover vulnerability of brain cancer cells

Biologists at MIT and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research have discovered a vulnerability of brain cancer cells that could be exploited to develop more-effective drugs against brain tumors.

9 Apr 2015

European scientists identify gene linked with certain types of early-onset epilepsy

Certain types of early-onset epilepsy are caused by previously unknown mutations of a potassium channel gene, KCNA2. The mutations disrupt the electrical balance in the brain in two ways. In some patients, the flow of potassium is greatly reduced; while in others, it is raised enormously. Both states can lead to hard-to-treat epileptic seizures. Mental and motor development can come to a stop, or even to regress.

12 Mar 2015

TAU researchers identify novel genetic mutation as source of specific rare disease

Rare diseases -- those that affect fewer than one in 200,000 people -- are often identified early in life. Some 30 percent of children afflicted by these "orphan diseases" do not live to see their fifth birthday. While the U.S. Orphan Drug Act of 1983 was written into law to promote research on the topic, the cost of identifying the source and progression of these diseases remains prohibitive for many families.

10 Feb 2015

New findings may lay groundwork of novel treatment for people with Huntington's disease

By adjusting the levels of a key signaling protein, researchers improved motor function and brain abnormalities in experimental animals with a form of Huntington's disease, a severe neurodegenerative disorder.

5 Jan 2015

Scientists discover genetic pathway responsible for brain development

Scientists at A*STAR's Institute of Medical Biology and Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology have identified a genetic pathway that accounts for the extraordinary size of the human brain.

19 Dec 2014

Study points to need for improving pediatric benefits under the Affordable Care Act

An article published in the Health Affairs December issue is the first ever comprehensive analysis to investigate the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) Essential Health Benefit (EHB) as it relates to children. The study found that the EHB has resulted in a state-by-state patchwork of coverage for children and adolescents that has significant exclusions, particularly for children with developmental disabilities and other special health care needs.

9 Dec 2014

Study underlines critical role of Fragile X mental retardation protein in brain development

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common cause of inherited intellectual disability (ID), as well as the most frequent monogenic cause of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). FXS is caused by the absence or incorrect production of the protein FMRP (Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein).

17 Nov 2014

Researchers to develop new tests to evaluate cognitive growth in people with intellectual disability

Leading researchers, funded through a new, five-year, $3.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, are collaborating to develop and evaluate tests designed to measure and track changes in the cognitive functioning of people who typically are difficult to assess accurately: those with an intellectual disability, formerly termed mental retardation.

3 Nov 2014

NIH presents 2014 New Innovator Award to Penn Medicine researcher

Roberto Bonasio, PhD, an assistant professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and a core member of the Penn Epigenetics Program is one of the recipients of a 2014 New Innovator Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

16 Oct 2014

Researchers awarded grant to develop non-invasive device to detect Human Cytomegalovirus

Researchers from Cardiff and Swansea Universities have been awarded a grant of more than £323k to develop a new, non-invasive, low-cost, and easy to use point of care device to diagnose Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV).

15 Oct 2014