For the second consecutive year, Himangshu S. Bose, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology and Functional Genomics, University of Florida at Gainesville, has been awarded a research grant by the Florida Chapter of the March of Dimes. Dr. Bose is seeking to understand how abnormalities in a protein (StAR) may contribute to a number of birth defects and genetic diseases whose causes are not yet known.

Over the past six decades, March of Dimes grantees have achieved a remarkable track record of lifesaving breakthroughs for babies. Eleven of these researchers have won the Nobel Prize. Today’s grantees continue in this tradition of success. Some are conducting basic research into life processes to learn how things normally work as a basis for learning what can go wrong. What is learned from basic research helps pave the way for more clinically oriented studies, such as Dr. Bose’s, that aim to prevent or treat specific birth defects and improve the outcome of pregnancy.

Cholesterol is best known for its role in cardiovascular disease. But this substance also has crucial functions in the body both before and after birth. For example, cholesterol is necessary for the production of certain hormones that are needed for normal development and survival. Dr. Bose is investigating how the StAR protein transports cholesterol into cellular compartments called mitochondria where hormone production begins. Abnormalities in StAR have been linked with a rare birth defect called congenital lipoid adrenal hyperplasia. Infants with this disorder lack certain hormones, resulting in death in the first month of life. Dr. Bose seeks to find out whether StAR and related proteins also cause other birth defects, as a step toward learning how to prevent and treat them.

Dr. Bose has published a number of studies on the StAR protein. He joined the University of Florida at Gainesville in 2003.

The March of Dimes is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. Founded in 1938, the March of Dimes funds programs of research, community services, education, and advocacy to save babies and in 2003 launched a campaign to address the increasing rate of premature birth. For more information, visit the March of Dimes Web site at marchofdimes.com or its Spanish language Web site at nacersano.org.