# The 13th International Conference on Neural Tube Defects

> **NIH NIH R13** · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · 2024 · $21,388

## Abstract

ABSTRACT: 13th International Conference on Neural Tube Defects
Neural tube defects (NTDs), including spina bifida (SB) and anencephaly, are common and severe birth defects
that arise from complex gene interactions, which are influenced by environmental stresses. One of the best-
known but still poorly understood influences on NTD risk is the folate-one carbon metabolic pathway. In
susceptible clinical populations, folic acid (FA) supplementation can prevent up to 70% of NTD occurrences.
This still leaves 30% of the population without options for improving gestational outcomes. Despite FA fortification
of the food supply and vitamin supplementation, NTDs affect up to 2,300 births in the US annually and hundreds
of thousands more worldwide. Advances in surgical and supportive care have progressively extended the life
expectancy of SB patients, who nevertheless face numerous concomitant challenges beyond physical mobility
that threaten length and quality of their lives. Today, over 75% of SB live births survive into adulthood and some
166,000 individuals with SB currently live in the US, more than half of whom are adults. Thus, it is imperative to
not only understand the mechanisms leading to SB, but also the attendant mechanisms that underlie the
postnatal developmental delays and comorbidities to SB that impact health related quality of life (HRQOL).
Significant co-morbidities go well beyond hydrocephalus requiring CSF shunting, and include orthopedic issues,
bladder and bowel dysfunction. Among these co-morbidities, neuropathic bowel dysfunction is the least
understood and perhaps the most limiting in terms of social isolation and maintenance of skin integrity. In addition
to these physical challenges, the range of cognitive developmental outcomes in SB patients can vary widely.
Prognosis for an affected infant is difficult to accurately assess. Knowledge of individual genetic SB risk could
enrich prognosis capabilities to indicate metabolic inefficiencies, improve options for tailored early behavioral
intervention, early screening for epilepsy risk, or indicate propensity for chromatin remodeling or epigenetic
influences that could be regulated to optimize neurodevelopmental outcome. In the setting of these clinical and
experimental challenges, there is a critical need to form synergistic collaborations to accelerate the translation
of research findings into better diagnoses, preventions, and treatments for NTDs.
The 13th International Conference on Neural Tube Defects will bring together expert scientists, clinicians and
epidemiologist/public health officials who collectively spend their energies trying to develop innovative evidenced
based preventative and treatment paradigms that can mitigate the myriad of clinical and societal problems
associated with these devastating disorders. The proposed meeting of this group in August 2024 will bring
together the leading experts in the world as well as their trainees to share their latest research and ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11000195
- **Project number:** 1R13HD116494-01
- **Recipient organization:** BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** RICHARD H. FINNELL
- **Activity code:** R13 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $21,388
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-08-01 → 2025-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11000195

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11000195, The 13th International Conference on Neural Tube Defects (1R13HD116494-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11000195. Licensed CC0.

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