Program seeks Council approval for an initiative entitled “Small Research Grants for Establishing Basic Science-Clinical Collaborations to Understand Structural Birth Defects”.
Structural birth defects have a great impact on public health, socioeconomics, and family life. The NICHD Birth Defects Initiative has been advocating for more collaborative efforts between basic scientists studying developmental biology and physician scientists working with patients. The combined efforts place the field of structural birth defects research on the verge of major advances, but it is only through truly collaborative efforts that significant progress will occur in moving knowledge from bedside to the lab bench and back to the bedside.
The original announcement was published in September 2016 and over the past three years, we received 33 applications and funded 6 (5 NICHD, 1 NIDCR). Research areas included skeletal dysplasia, congenital heart defects, split hand foot malformation, craniofacial dysmorphology and lymphatic anomalies. However, there are many more birth defects that require collaborative efforts to better understand their underlying mechanisms.
Furthermore, the PIs of nearly completed grants under this FOA have contacted program staff to discuss an R01 submission to continue their research programs, indicative of the success of the program.
The goal of this initiative is to promote the establishment of basic science-clinical collaborations by providing small grants to gather preliminary data to support larger research grant applications. Such collaborations would integrate basic translational and/or clinical approaches to promote the understanding of the developmental biology and genetic basis of structural birth defects, thus resulting in better therapeutics and prevention.
This special FOA will support the development of the essential elements for a successful collaborative, interdisciplinary mechanism on structural birth defects.
This proposed concept aligns with the NICHD Vision area of Developmental Biology.
This proposed concept aligns with the DBSVB research priority on Structural Birth Defects.
Program Contact
Reiko Toyama
Developmental Biology and Structural Variation Branch (DBSVB)
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