Mckinney, Christy Michelle PHD
Seattle Children's
INCLUDE Grants
Institutional Career Development Core
Amory, John KMckinney, Christy Michelle
Challenging behaviors, such as aggression or noncompliance, occur in almost all children with Down syndrome and negatively impact quality of life for the individual and family. The proposed study will be the first to comprehensively investigate cognitive and neuropsychological factors that impact the development of challenging behaviors in children with Down syndrome. Findings from this research will inform future interventions targeting challenging behaviors in this population.
Institutional Career Development Core
Individuals with Down syndrome develop oral inflammatory diseases, like gingivitis and periodontitis, at an accelerated rate. Despite the knowledge that oral inflammation and other co-occurring conditions are accelerated with age, there are a lack of studies attempting to investigate or target the underlying biology of age. This proposal investigates whether inflammaging, a low-grade chronic inflammation during age, is hyperactive in the gingival tissues of individuals with DS, all while completing an updated epidemiological inquiry on the current oral health landscape in individuals with DS, and a basic scientific inquiry into whether existing DS mice models can mimic accelerated oral inflammation. The proposal stands to enable the pursuit of an innovative strategy to improve oral health in people with DS by targeting aging biology, all while training a dentist-scientist to develop as an independent investigator to conduct rigorous clinical and translational research career in DS-related research.