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S.C. March of Dimes funds MUSC researcher The South Carolina March of Dimes has funded a $150,000 research grant at MUSC. David Sedmera, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of anatomy and cell biology, will study the abnormal development of the heart muscle in connection with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. About one in every 125 babies is born with a heart defect. Because of improvements in the surgical treatment and medical manage-ment of these defects, most affected babies survive and do well. However, some babies with severe heart defects may not survive until surgery, or may not survive the procedure. Many babies who die of heart defects in the first month of life have a specific heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome, in which the main pumping chamber of the heart is too small to supply blood to the body. An experimental surgical procedure has saved a small number of affected babies, but the outlook remains grim. In most cases, doctors do not know why a baby is born with a heart defect, although both genetic and environmental factors are believed to play a role. “We are proud to fund researchers right here in our own backyard,” said Paula Howell, state director of the South Carolina March of Dimes. “These researchers are just one example of how WalkAmerica, Star Chefs, and our many individual donors are helping save babies.” The South Carolina March of Dimes will continue to fund two additional researchers in South Carolina, including Kathleen O’Rourke, who was awarded a $215,000 grant to study folic acid usage in select populations to prevent serious birth defects of the brain and spine. She is an associate professor in the Department of Biometry and Epidemiology. The March of Dimes is seeking ways to prevent birth defects and infant death, to reduce South Carolina’s increasing premature birth rate, to increase access to prenatal care, and to educate men and women about having healthy babies.   Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.