University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center
The Smile Train has funded several scientific cleft-related projects in the highly recognized laboratory of Associate Professor Deepak Srivastava, M.D., at the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. The fellowship program provides funding for accomplished biomedical scientists to assist Principal Investigator Dr. Srivastava with producing results on the molecular pathways leading to cleft lip and palate. There have been concrete, promising results discovered, including novel genes and the mechanism of a signal transduction pathway.
For many years, scientists have suspected that a gene on chromosome 22 is responsible for common heart and craniofacial birth defects. In February 1999, Dr. Srivastava and his team were able to demonstrate that deletion of part of one gene, UFD1, could cause the variety of developmental problems found in children known to be missing a piece of chromosome 22. With the help of The Smile Train, this team of researchers is committed to identifying the genes that contribute to abnormal and normal palate formation. These findings could be instrumental in paving the way for therapies that could prevent the initial formation of cleft lip and palate during embryonic development. The Smile Train has been acknowledged for seven publications in academic journals including Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Mechanisms of Development, and Circulation Research.
Dr. Deepak Srivastava
Department of Pediatrics and Molecular Biology, Pogue Distinguished Chair for Research in Cardiac Birth Defects
6000 Harry Hines Blvd.
Dallas, TX 75390-9148
Phone: 214-648-1246
Fax: 214-648-1820
