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Children's Specialist Foundation

Instituition/Agency:	Children’s Specialists Foundation, Rady Children’s Hospital, San Diego
Principal Investigator:	Henry F. Krous, MD
Grant Cycle:	April 2010 – March 2011
Amount of funding:	$202,000 ($67,000 from SUDC Program)
Project:	San Diego SIDS/SUDC Research Project
Description:	The San Diego SIDS/SUDC Research Project (SDSSRP) is dedicated to increasing the understanding of sudden infant and childhood death. It endeavors to provide individual families with thorough second opinions personal support, and to publish and present our work in peer reviewed medical journals, scientific conferences, and professional and public assemblies. The aims of SDSSRP include but are not limited to: 1) Determine and clarify features of the medical history, death scene and postmortem examination to refine the proposed triple risk model, 2) Provide a basis for legislation for national use of standardized scene investigations and autopsy protocols in cases of sudden infant and childhood death, 3) Provide a basis for national legislation with regard to the utilization of records and specimens from these cases for research purposes, 4) Motivate other investigators to begin research into SIDS and SUDC, and 5) Expand the knowledge base of postmortem findings in SIDS and SUDC, including their underlying similarities and differences, and how each correlates with clinical and epidemiological variables.

Children’s Hospital Foundation

Instituition/Agency:	Children’s Hospital Foundation, Children’s National Medical Center - Washington DC
Principal Investigator:	Rachel Y. Moon, MD & Fern R. Hauck, MD, MS
Grant Cycle:	April 2010 – March 2011
Amount of funding:	$18,000
Project:	Changes in Sleep Patterns and Stress in Infants Entering Child Care: Implications for SIDS Risk
Description:	Approximately 20% of infants who die of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) die while in child care settings and many of these deaths occur in the first week, particularly on the first day of child care. While no single factor accounts for all SIDS cases, there are several possible factors that contribute to increased risk during the transition to child care; these include change/disruption in sleep pattern, increased stress in the infant, and disruption in the normal maturation of the infant circadian rhythm. This project pilots investigative techniques in infants, half of whom are entering child care, by measuring sleep patterns and hormones that are indicative of stress and circadian rhythm in infants.

Mayo Clinic

Instituition/Agency:	Mayo Clinic – Rochester, Minnesota
Principal Investigator:	Michael J. Ackerman, MD, PhD
Grant Cycle:	One-time gift
Amount of funding:	$10,000
Project:	Molecular Autopsy for Cases of Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood: A Resource for Postmortem Genetic Testing
Description:	The purpose of this research project is to elucidate a genetic cause for an autopsy negative sudden unexplained death in a child. Postmortem genetic testing - that targets the genes encoding critical cardiac channels that have been implicated as the cause of potentially lethal heritable arrhythmia syndromes like long QT syndrome (LQTS) and catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) - is performed on genetic material (DNA) extracted from archived tissue or blood spot cards.

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