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BIDDEFORD, Maine

Kerry Tucker receives grant to study heart defects in newborns

Kerry L. Tucker, Ph.D., associate professor in the College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Department of Biomedical Sciences, has received a $65,000 grant from the Saving Tiny Hearts Society to investigate the development of some of the most common congenital heart defects seen in newborn babies, including atrial and ventricular septal defects.  

The Saving tiny Hearts Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising seed money for grossly under-funded, grass-roots research of congenital heart defects. Tucker’s research will utilize genetically engineered mouse models to probe the role of primary cilia, a type of cellular organelle, in early heart development.

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