Founded in 1965, the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center is one of the original Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Centers that were established under legislation signed by President Kennedy by the United States National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The Center was designated a Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities in 2005 as part of a national network of Centers aimed at addressing these conditions and houses specialised bodies like the Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders. Today, the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center is an interdisciplinary institute that leverages experts and research infrastructure from Vanderbilt University’s Schools of Medicine and Nursing. The Center is a great partner for BlinkLab since it aims to conduct research that enable early interventions and support families.
Housed within Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), the Kennedy Center is a center for excellence in the field of developmental disabilities; combining research, community services, and innovative approaches to training for professionals and caregivers in an attempt to foster access to evidence-based best practices for autism and intellectual disabilities. The Kennedy Center places an emphasis on its research, advocating not only for innovative work for both diagnostic and interventional support, but also for informing policy and training as part of a translational research approach.
