Each year in this country, nearly a quarter of a million babies are born with some mental or physical anomaly. This translates into the alarming statistic that every three minutes a baby is born with a birth defect! Despite ongoing research, the causes of over 70 percent of birth defects are unknown! In addition, congenital anomalies are the single leading cause of infant mortality, directly responsible for one out of every five infant deaths.  A pediatrician who practiced in the 1950s would not recognize the children's health care landscape today: Babies born 3 months premature and weighing less than 24 oz .....survive. Diseases that often killed or crippled children such as polio and bacterial meningitis are so rare that most physicians have never even treated them. Fetuses are now operated on for life-threatening disorders. Expectant mothers are treated with drugs and vitamins to prevent certain birth defects. Without biomedical research, none of these remarkable advances would have been possible! Universities are looked upon not only as places for reflection and contemplation but also as environments in which solutions for society's problems may be found. Thus, a critical challenge for the University of Louisville Birth Defects Center is to improve the diagnosis and treatment of birth defects as well as effect their prevention. To do this, investigators in the Center are engaged in the conduct of fundamental research on molecular and molecular genetic aspects of embryonic development and congenital malformations. Representative research activities include: molecular etiology of craniofacial and cardiovascular malformations; genetic mapping of developmental disorders; obstructive sleep apnea and learning disabilities; susceptibility to drug toxicity; cognitive and language development; pharmacogenetics of fetal tobacco smoke exposure; identification of susceptibility genes; molecular and genetic control of early CNS development; genetic and environmental influences on early behavior; genetic analysis of autism. It is our hope that this research will result in a tangible improvement in our ability to diagnosis birth defects, as well as lead to intervention strategies resulting in the reduction of the frequency of birth defects. I hope you will take the opportunity to browse this web site, visit the links to our faculty and become acquainted with some of the exciting research being conducted by faculty, students and trainees within the Center. Robert M. Greene, Ph.D. Director, University of Louisville Birth Defects Center Professor and Chair, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Craniofacial Biology Associate, Department of Pediatrics (phone) 502-852-7507 (fax) 502-852-8309 Greene@Louisville.edu