December 1, 2009

2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Congenital Heart Defects

Congenital heart defects are the most common type of birth defect, affecting eight out of every 1,000 newborns. The frequency of recurrences in the same families strongly suggests there are genetic contributions. Dr. Edward Lammer, a pediatrician and medical geneticist at Children's Hospital and Research Center in Oakland, California, discusses his research project on congenital heart defects, funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.