A critical project aimed at saving babies born with heart defects has lost vital funding just days after receiving approval. Cornell University’s PediaFlow project, which focuses on developing a small device to help infants with heart conditions, was awarded $6.7 million in March by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). However, shortly after the approval, the DoD issued a stop-work order, halting the project’s progress, according to NBC News.
James Antaki, the biomedical engineering professor leading the project, expressed his surprise and disappointment over the funding cut. “I feel that it’s my calling in life to complete this project,” Antaki said in his first public comments since the funding was revoked. “Once a week, I go through this mental process of, ‘Is it time to give up?’ But it is not my prerogative to give up.”
Neither the White House nor the Department of Defense commented on the decision, though NBC News reported that the order came “at the direction of the Administration.”
The PediaFlow device, roughly the size of a AA battery, uses a tiny rotating propeller to boost blood flow in babies with heart defects. This device is designed to support infants either during heart surgery or while awaiting a donor heart. It is especially crucial as one in 100 babies in the U.S. is born with a heart defect, with 25% of them needing surgery within their first year, according to the CDC.
The canceled funding would have supported essential animal testing and FDA-related paperwork to ensure the device is safe for human use. Antaki began developing the device in 2003 while working on similar technology for adults. After joining Cornell in 2018, he secured additional federal funding to further the project.
A 300-page proposal submitted last June received approval in March before being unexpectedly canceled. Dr. Evan Zahn, a pediatric cardiologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, called the funding loss a major setback for children’s health. “Technology specifically designed for our children, particularly babies, is desperately needed,” Zahn said. “Losing funding for something like that is a real loss.”
If the funding is not reinstated within 90 days, Antaki warned that his team would be forced to lay off staff and redirect students’ research efforts. “It’s a small amount of money that could do so much good for so many people,” Antaki said. “It just speaks for itself.”
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