The money, to be allocated across five years, was awarded to the researchers by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, according to an Oct. 18 news release from the school. The recipients are Katherine Fantauzzo, PhD, a craniofacial biology assistant professor at the university; Thomas Forman, a molecular biology graduate student at the university; Lomeli Shull, PhD, and research associate in the school’s department of craniofacial biology; and Julio Jaime, a craniofacial biology student research assistant at the school of dental medicine.
Each year in the U.S., more than 5,000 infants are born with cleft lip and more than 3,000 are born with cleft palate, the release said.