Hong-Guo Yu, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, has been awarded a Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Research grant by the March of Dimes Foundation.

This grant, which is funded for two years, will help Dr. Yu launch his independent research project aimed at understanding the role of a protein as an underlying cause of chromosomal birth defects, as a step toward learning to prevent or treat 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. Yu, 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 Grants program, named for the Foundation’s first chairman and president, which the March of Dimes began in 1973. More than 2,000 young researchers have received the award since then. The greater majority have continued in 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.

The March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health. With chapters nationwide and its premier event, March for Babiessm, the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies. For the latest resources and information, visit marchofdimes.com or nacersano.org.