# CTSA KL2 Supplement Rebecca Grzadzinski

> **NIH NIH KL2** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2020 · $109,473

## Abstract

This application is submitted in response to NOT-OD-20-022 as an administrative supplement to
NCATS CTSA Program KL2 Institutional Career Development Awards. The highly-successful
University of North Carolina (UNC) Institutional Career Development Award KL2 program is
housed within the UNC Translational and Clinical Sciences (TraCS) Institute and aims to shape
the development of junior translational scientists such as the applicant of this proposal. The
overarching goal of this proposal is to characterize longitudinal, brain-behavior trajectories, and
developmental profiles from infancy through school-age in Down Syndrome (DS) compared to
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The specific aims are to 1) characterize age-, disorder- and
social communication (SC)-specific brain features in DS children from infancy through school age
and 2) describe SC development during infancy and school age in DS children. This project is the
first to address the lack of studies that 1) examine the onset and trajectory of SC symptoms in
children with DS during infancy, 2) combine SC phenotyping with brain features in an early
postnatal prospective, longitudinal sample and 3) compare brain biomarkers between with DS,
iASD, and TD children both in infancy and childhood. This unparalleled opportunity to generate
comprehensive trajectories of SC deficits in children with DS leverages data across four grants
that are part of the Infant Brain Imaging Study (IBIS) Network making this large-scale, complex
project feasible. This proposal addresses the goals of NCATS CTSA Program, the TraCS KL2
Program, and the INCLUDE Project in the following ways, 1) Funding this scholar’s project
increases the translational workforce of DS researchers, 2) This project utilizes prospective,
longitudinal cohorts of children with DS, ASD, and typical development (TD) thereby addressing
the INCLUDE goal to investigate co-occurring conditions across the lifespan, and 3) integrates
multiple fields in order to accelerate the development of new therapies and interventions for DS.
Completion of this project will result in rich information about the development of SC and brain
biomarkers for DS, ASD, and TD children with the aim of accelerating the development of new
SC therapies and interventions for DS children.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10117614
- **Project number:** 3KL2TR002490-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** Morris Weinberger
- **Activity code:** KL2 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $109,473
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2018-03-30 → 2023-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10117614

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10117614, CTSA KL2 Supplement Rebecca Grzadzinski (3KL2TR002490-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10117614. Licensed CC0.

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