Vijaya Kancherla, PhD, Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Rollins, recently won the 2021 F. Clarke Fraser New Investigator Award from the Society for Birth Defects Research and Prevention (SBDRP, previously Teratology Society) for her vast body of work on birth defects epidemiology. This award honors F. Clarke Fraser, one of the founding members of the SBDRP for his many contributions to the field of developmental toxicology. During the awards ceremony this summer, Kancherla will give a presentation related to her research, which will serve as a demonstration to pre- and postdoctoral students of the development of an independent career in birth defects research. Read the full story.
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Vijaya Kancherla, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Epidemiologist, Center for Spina Bifida Prevention, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University. The scientific evidence since 1991 has shown that folic acid prevents from 35%-95% of neural tube birth defects that are caused due to low folic acid (also known as vitamin B9) in the mother’s diet prior to conception and during early pregnancy. Neural tube defects form in the embryo at 4th week of gestation when most women are unaware they are pregnant. 
(Reuters Health) – Corn masa flour and tortillas sold in U.S. grocery stores may not be fortified with folic acid, which means a government effort to help reduce birth defects among Hispanic babies may not be working as intended, a small study suggests.