Researchers

Research is critical to creating a brighter future for children with Trisomy 18 syndrome and other related disorders. The Trisomy 18 Foundation is committed to funding research that seeks to reduce or eliminate the life-threatening and quality of life challenges facing patients with Trisomy 18. We also share research study opportunities with our Trisomy 18 syndrome community to further research the treatment and care of those impacted by the disorder.

Together, we can advance treatment options for Trisomy 18 and offer hope for our children’s futures.

Clinical Research

Each year in the United States, about one out of every 2,000 pregnancies are impacted by a Trisomy 18 diagnosis. That’s thousands of infants a year whose lives are impacted by the condition. And far too many of these children will never have the opportunity to take their first breaths.

Current research studies are exploring the basic biological processes of development to improve our understanding of how genes and other factors direct the transformation from a single cell into a complete being. A more advanced understanding of that process could help reveal what can go wrong along the way to result in chromosome 18 appearing three times (trisomy) rather than twice in the cells of the body and allow scientists to have a better understanding of how the extra chromosome disrupts fetal development.

Research into advanced treatment options for children born with Trisomy 18, such as corrective surgeries, therapies and other forms of care, can also help reduce or eliminate life-threatening and quality of life challenges that children with Trisomy 18 face so that they can live longer, healthier lives.

Research Funding

That’s why the Trisomy 18 Foundation is committed to providing grants to researchers with the goal of understanding the cause of Trisomy 18 and developing new ways to treat the condition.

Your research is critical to creating a brighter future for people with Trisomy 18 syndrome. We are here as a resource for you, whether you are a researcher or clinical scientist conducting research to understand the impact of Trisomy 18 on fetal development or to find therapies and treatment options to improve the outcomes for children born with the condition.

Our Research Program focuses on these goals:

  • To offer grants for scientists at different stages of their careers. This seed funding is essential for many scientists to obtain preliminary data required to compete for more competitive grants at the National Institutes of Health or other organizations.
  • To announce study participation opportunities in biomedical studies to our Trisomy 18 syndrome and related disorders community to help scientists reach their enrollment goals.
  • To help connect you to other scientists to obtain resources—such as patient registries, biological samples and mouse models—that you might need for your research.
  • To advocate with members of Congress on behalf of the research community for adequate funding of the National Institutes of Health and other government institutions where researchers usually apply for funding. We also advocate at the National Institutes of Health for grant mechanisms that will benefit the Trisomy 18 and related disorders population.
  • To act as a convener, organizer and supporter of state-of-the-art research meetings to facilitate and maintain international collaboration among scientists in this emerging field of research.

Please contact us if you have a research opportunity we might partner on together.