The
UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute (Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders) research and treatment center affiliated with the
University of California, Davis, with facilities located on the
UC Davis Medical Center campus in
Sacramento, California. The institute is a consortium of scientists, educators, physicians and parents who have joined together to unravel the mysteries of autism spectrum disorders,
fragile X syndrome, and other neurodevelopmental disorders.
The M.I.N.D. Institute brings together experts in fields as diverse as
molecular genetics and clinical
pediatrics, using a multidisciplinary approach to treating and finding cures for neurodevelopmental disorders.
Parents of autistic children led the drive to raise funds for the cause, anticipating the M.I.N.D. Institute could become the premiere
autism research institute in the world. The largest contribution came from the
California State Legislature, which provided $34 million to the institute for autism research. The efforts enabled construction of the M.I.N.D Institute's state-of-the-art facility at the U.C. Davis Medical Center campus in Sacramento.
After the major funding from the State, Rick Rollens, the former Secretary of the California State Senate and one of the leaders in the effort to create the institute, said the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) has only funded "the traditional, genetic-oriented research into autism. The M.I.N.D. Institute, having been established by parents concerned about the staggering implications of a possible
autism epidemic, is demanding that scientists take research to the next level by looking at possible causes from different perspectives.
Among the parents behind the institute are Chuck and Sarah Gardner, parents of Chas, their autistic son. Chuck is a Sacramento area building contractor and co-founder of the M.I.N.D. Institute along with his wife, Sarah, a high-profile television anchorwoman in Sacramento.
David G. Amaral, Ph.D., is the research director of the M.I.N.D. Institute and a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and the Center for Neuroscience, a neuroscientist who studies the organization of
memory systems in the
brain. Sally Rogers, Ph.D. is a specialist in
developmental psychology and professor of
psychiatry and
behavior science for the M.I.N.D. Institute.
In October, 2002, the M.I.N.D. Institute released a study appearing to confirm that the prevalence of autism has risen steeply. The study was led by Dr. Robert Byrd, whose team gathered information on 684 children with developmental disabilities from California's Department of Developmental Services regional centers. Byrd's team's reported autism is on the rise in California, and that the unprecedented increase is real and cannot be explained away by artificial factors such as misclassification and diagnostic
criteria changes, nor by migration of children into California.
See also
External links
- Alternative-Doctor.com - The Cure Autism Conspiracy of Parents and the M.I.N.D. Institute
- AutisticSociety.org - Study: Brain is atypical in autistic boys, Dorsey Griffith (August 21, 2004)
- NeuroDiversity.com - The "Autism Epidemic" & Real Epidemics: An exchange of correspondence with the U.C. Davis M.I.N.D. Institute (March 28, 2005)
- UCDavis.edu - Helping to Grow Healthy Minds UCDavis M.I.N.D. Institute
- Yahoo.com - The Schafer Autism Report Archive
Category:Autism
Category:Psychology
Category:Research institutes