Research in intellectual and developmental disabilities in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge started in the 1990s, with the creation of a senior academic psychiatry post linked to the local clinical services for adults with learning disabilities. In 1992, the Section of Developmental Psychiatry was established at Douglas House to support research in learning disabilities and child psychiatry, under the leadership of Professor Ian Goodyer.  Subsequently, the Autism Research Centre (ARC), directed by Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, was established. In 2002, with the award to Tony Holland of The Health Foundation Chair in Learning Disabilities, the group was able to expand and develop new interdisciplinary research, first as the Learning Disabilities Research Group, and now, reflecting the broader scope of our work, as the Cambridge Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities Research Group.  The Section of Developmental Psychiatry now comprises these three research groups.