Kristin Hamre, PhD, assistant professor iand researcher in the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology in the College of Medicine at University of Tennessee Health Science Center has received a grant to study the role of genetics in fetal alcohol syndrome.
She will receive approximately $1.5 million over five years from the National Institutes of Health for her project titled “Maternal genotype, choline intervention, and epigenetics in Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.”
The effects of this alcohol consumption by pregnant women on their babies vary greatly, with genetics – both the genetics of the mother and of the child – playing a key role.
“The purpose of this study is to evaluate the role of genetics. Animal models, and to a lesser extent, human studies have shown that genetics are likely to be impacting the severity of the deficits that we see from alcohol exposure,” Hamre said.