How alcohol during pregnancy harms fetal limbs and faces (FASD)
Official title: Project 2: Prenatal Alcohol Exposure (PAE) and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)
Funded at North Carolina Central University · NIH-11160509 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks for genes and drugs that change how alcohol exposure before birth damages developing limbs and faces to help babies at risk for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | North Carolina Central University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Durham, United States) |
| Project start | September 20, 2022 |
| Project end | August 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $195,075 |
| NIH project number | 5U54AA030451-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11160509 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
When human follow-up studies begin, ideal participants would include pregnant people with known prenatal alcohol exposure and families affected by FASD who are interested in prevention research.
✕Less likely to help
Because this project is preclinical and uses lab and animal models, it does not provide direct treatments or immediate benefits to patients right now.
What this research studies
Researchers use cells, zebrafish, and mouse models to study how prenatal alcohol causes limb and craniofacial defects. They will turn off specific genes to find ones that make alcohol damage worse or better, and run focused chemical screens to find compounds that modify alcohol's effects. The work focuses on pathways like sonic hedgehog that guide embryo development and are known to be disrupted by alcohol. Findings are meant to point toward targets for future prevention or treatment efforts that could eventually involve people.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could identify targets for drugs or interventions that reduce birth defects from prenatal alcohol exposure.
How similar studies have gone: Previous animal and cell studies have linked disrupted sonic hedgehog signaling to alcohol-related birth defects and early screens have found candidate modifiers, but translating these findings into human therapies remains unproven.
Where this research is happening
-
North Carolina Central University
Durham, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Williams, Kevin Peter — North Carolina Central University
- Study coordinator: Williams, Kevin Peter
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.