# FASD Diagnostic Telemedicine Resource

> **NIH NIH U24** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2022 · $370,438

## Abstract

Project Summary
Prenatal alcohol exposure is estimated to impact 1-5% of children in the US alone. Yet, many
individuals who have been exposed prenatally to alcohol and suffer from fetal alcohol spectrum
disorders (FASD) fail to be recognized. This failure is due, in large part, to a paucity of specialized
clinics and expert dysmorphologists who are trained to identify FASD. Access to appropriate
diagnostic expertise is particularly limited in remote areas. Unfortunately, if individuals with FASD
are not recognized and diagnosed, they do not receive critically needed services nor can they
access potential interventions early in life, when intervention is most likely to be effective.
The CIFASD5 Diagnostic-Telemedicine Resource (DTR) will ensure consistent and accurate
assessment of the physical characteristics of FASD across the CIFASD research sites. In
addition, the DTR will address the critical need for increased diagnostic capacity through training
of non-expert practitioners across CIFASD5 sites using telemedicine-based methods. In the
previous CIFASD4 iteration, telemedicine approaches were tested for this purpose in a small
sample of clinicians and found to be an effective method for training and monitoring of new
examiners. In CIFASD5, this method will be extended to multiple sites and be employed in the
evaluation of over 1,800 children and adults.
However, telemedicine alone is insufficient to expand capacity and ensure consistency and
accuracy of diagnosis. To that end, several novel eHealth tools have been developed to assist in
the detection of physical features associated with prenatal alcohol exposure. These tools hold
promise in providing simple and efficient ways to screen and identify FASD. These include
MorpheusQ, a smart-phone based app that automates facial feature detection; Face-to-Gene, a
2D facial image diagnostic aid used by clinical geneticists to screen for potential syndromes; and
3D facial image signatures. These tools are scalable and have the potential to improve screening
and diagnosis across the globe, even in remote areas, such as in Alaska. However, the diagnostic
accuracy of these tools needs to be systematically compared to standardized dysmorphological
exams. It is essential to determine whether eHealth tools can effectively replace and/or improve
traditional exams before they are widely implemented.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10470671
- **Project number:** 2U24AA014815-19
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Miguel del Campo Casanelles
- **Activity code:** U24 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $370,438
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2022-09-15 → 2027-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10470671

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10470671, FASD Diagnostic Telemedicine Resource (2U24AA014815-19). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10470671. Licensed CC0.

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