Research on Skeletal Birth Defects Funded by March of Dimes Connecticut Chapter
06-Aug-08
(Manchester, CT, August 4, 2008)—For the second consecutive year, Mustafa Khokha, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, has received a Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Research Award funded by the March of Dimes Connecticut Chapter. This $75,000 grant will help Dr. Khokha continue his independent research project aimed at improving understanding of the causes of skeletal birth defects, and ultimately learning how to prevent them.
Over the past seven decades, March of Dimes grantees have achieved a remarkable track record of advances to help more babies get a healthy start in life. One way the March of Dimes seeks to ensure ongoing progress in infant health is by encouraging some of the nation’s most promising young scientists, like Dr. Khokha, to commit to careers in research aimed at finding causes and solutions for the problems that threaten our babies. This is the goal of the Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Research Awards program, which the March of Dimes began in 1973. More than 2,000 young researchers have received the awards since then. The greater majority have continued research on birth defects, four have been awarded the Nobel Prize® in Physiology or Medicine, and one is the Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute.
Birth defects involving the spine and limbs are common, and the causes of many of them are poorly understood. In addition, up to 1 in 200 children in the United States require treatment for scoliosis (curvature of the spine), which can result in back pain, and in severe cases, breathing difficulties. Some cases of scoliosis are caused by congenital defects of the vertebrae of the spine. Dr. Khokha is studying the role of two genes (noggin and gremlin) in development of the embryonic skeleton, for insight into how abnormalities in these genes may contribute to vertebral and other skeletal defects. This information may lead to improved treatments for scoliosis and other spinal defects, and ultimately, to new ways to prevent them.
Dr. Khokha received his medical degree from Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago in 1995. Following this, he completed his medical residency at St. Louis Children’s Hospital/Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and did postdoctoral research at the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center and the University of California at Berkeley. He joined Yale University in 2006.
The March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health. With chapters nationwide and its premier event, March for Babies, the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. For the latest resources and information, visit marchofdimes.com or nacersano.org. ###
