Does the federal government fund cognition research for Down syndrome?
NIH funds Down syndrome research, but at the present time only a fraction of the funding is directed to bio-medical cognition research. NIH is best at promoting scientific discovery through investigator-initiated grants. It is less effective in ensuring that new knowledge advances the goal of achieving therapies. Private foundations like DSRTF can help “close the gap” between basic research and clinical applications by privately funding research where the goal is to produce treatments. NIH reported that in fiscal year 2003 it spent approximately $30.6 million for research on Down syndrome. This money funded grants that cut across a broad spectrum, studying everything from better pre-natal screening techniques to how to improve motor fundtion in children with Down syndrome. DSRTF is encouraging NIH through its advocacy to fund more bio-medical research that is targeted at learning more about the cognitive impairment associated with Down syndrome and how to treat it. In February DSRTF pa
