By I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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MONDAY, May 12, 2025 (HealthDay News) \u2014 A Cornell University project to save babies born with serious heart defects has lost key funding just days after it was approved.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) awarded $6.7 million on March 30 to support production and development of PediaFlow, a small device to help infants with heart defects. Days later, the DoD sent a stop-work order, NBC News <\/em>reported.<\/p>\n James Antaki<\/a>, the biomedical engineering professor leading the project, said he was shocked.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel that it\u2019s my calling in life to complete this project,\u201d he told NBC News<\/em>, in his first news interview since losing funding. \u201cOnce a week, I go through this mental process of, \u2018Is it time to give up?\u2019 But it is not my prerogative to give up.\u201d<\/p>\n Neither the Defense Department nor the White House would comment.<\/p>\n NBC News <\/em>reported that the order was \u201cat the direction of the Administration.\u201d<\/p>\n The project had previously received grants from the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Defense Department without issue.<\/p>\n One in 100 babies in the U.S. are born with heart defects, with about 25% needing surgery<\/a> in their first year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).<\/p>\n Roughly the size of an AA battery, PediaFlow uses a tiny rotating propeller to boost blood flow. It is designed to help babies survive surgery or stay home safely while waiting for a donor heart.<\/p>\n The canceled funding would have supported further animal testing to ensure it doesn’t harm humans, as well as U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) paperwork.<\/p>\n Antaki began developing the device in 2003 while working on a similar one for adults. After moving to Cornell in 2018, he secured new federal funding.<\/p>\n His team submitted a 300-page proposal last June, and the grant was approved in March before being canceled abruptly.<\/p>\n Dr. Evan Zahn<\/a>, a pediatric cardiologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles who is not involved with PediaFlow, called the funding loss a blow to children\u2019s health.<\/p>\n \u201cTechnology specifically designed for our children, particularly babies across the board, is desperately needed, so losing funding for something like that is a real loss,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n If the funding is not restored within 90 days, Antaki said his team would have to lay off staff and students would have to change their research focus.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a small amount of money that could do so much good for so many people, and it\u2019s just the right thing to do,” he added. It just … it kind of speaks for itself.\u201d<\/p>\n More information<\/strong><\/p>\n The Mayo Clinic has more on congenital heart defects in children<\/a>.<\/p>\n