Kevin was born with a heart abnormality called Tetralogy of Fallot, which at one time would have been fatal in infancy. Thanks to several miraculous surgeries over several years, his heart was working well, and he celebrated his 17th birthday. His expectations, and those of his parents, were that he would live a long and healthy life, possibly even become a doctor to help kids in the same way he had been helped. He had even started to visit universities on weekends. While throwing a Frisbee with friends on a normal Thursday afternoon, Kevin’s heart began misfiring, a condition called arrhythmia. He suddenly collapsed and died before medical attention could arrive. ... more

May 7, 2009 -- President Obama has appointed Barbara A. Schaal, Ph.D., the Mary-Dell Chilton Distinguished Professor of biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and vice president of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). ... more

April 20, 2009 -- The search for the cause of an inherited form of a rare, aggressive childhood lung cancer has uncovered important information about how the cancer develops and potentially sheds light on the development of other cancers. ... more

According to the Human Genome Project website, there are approximately 20,000 protein-coding genes within the three billion or so chemical base pairs that make up human DNA. Identifying the genes, however, was just a first step in understanding humans at the molecular level. For most of those 20,000 genes, their function is still an open question. ... more

The approval of 15 new grants has pushed the Children’s Discovery Institute investment in finding cures and treatments for devastating childhood diseases to more than $11.5 million since 2006. ... more