The Meriter Foundation has awarded a $75,411 grant to Principal Investigator Ryan McAdams, MD, professor and chief, Division of Neonatology and Newborn Nursery, and his co-investigators, Christine Sorenson, PhD, distinguished scientist, Division of Neonatology and Newborn Nursery; Nader Sheibani, PhD, professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences; and Manish Patankar, PhD, professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The project is titled “Association of Neurovascular Dysfunction with Fetal Acidosis and Mast Cell Activation.” Its goal is to better understand the role of mast cells and their activation in high-risk neonates and how this might relate to tissue injury and other conditions. The research team will seek to do this by determining whether a particular marker in umbilical cord blood correlates with outcome severity, and then use a cell model to determine strategies to prevent and treat these conditions.