About DSRTF :: Multi-Disciplinary Approach

What Makes DSRTF Different

Unlike other organizations that support Down syndrome research, DSRTF supports only Down syndrome genetic and bio-medical research that focuses on understanding and improving cognition. Moreover, DSRTF only supports researchers who are committed to translating their basic research into effective treatments through clinical studies.

DSRTF believes that medical research - particularly as it relates to understanding cognition - is most effective when it is a multi-disciplinary effort. Understanding cognition requires the participation of investigators in a number of disciplines - genetics, molecular and cellular biology, the biology of neural circuits and behavior. Studying just one of these areas in isolation is not likely to lead to a major breakthrough in the treatment of Down syndrome. Therefore, DSRTF supports multi-disciplinary research and encourages frequent collaboration among scientists in different areas.

DSRTF works with and supports the work of other Down syndrome associations, such as the National Down Syndrome Society and the National Down Syndrome Congress. DSRTF's mission is more narrowly-defined than these associations. DSRTF exists to (1) raise private and public funds for genetic and bio-medical Down syndrome research and treatments relating to cognition and (2) to educate the public about research findings and possible treatments.

An example of multi-disciplinary and cross-institutional collaboration

DSRTF believes that the end goal of identifying treatments to improve cognition in Down syndrome will be achieved more quickly if scientist from different disciplines and different institutions work together. Funding of researchers that share this philosophy has enabled the creation of a new tool that will accelerate the progress of learning about how the axons of neurons are different in DS.

Dr. William Mobley, the Director of the Stanford Center for DS Research and Treatment, and Dr. Steven Chu, a physicist and the Director of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories worked together to discover a way to visualize the transport of individual tiny organelles that move within axons and carry an important trophic signal. This new ability to very precisely localize the organelles and to determine precisely how they move will accelerate the learnings about how axons differ in DS.

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Links:

Stanford Center for Research and Treatment of Down Syndrome
http://dsresearch.stanford.edu

NIH National Library of Medicine
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/downsyndrome.html

National Down Syndrome Society
http://www.ndss.org

National Down Syndrome Congress
http://www.ndsccenter.org/