Congratulations to Dr. Margot Kossmann Williams, whose NIH grant entitled "Magnesium regulation of neural tube closure" was recently funded by the NIH. 

The embryonic neural tube gives rise to the brain and spinal cord, and failure of the neural tube to close results in debilitating or deadly neural tube defects (NTDs). Experimental and epidemiological data suggest that deficiency of the essential mineral magnesium increases risk of NTDs, but how magnesium promotes neural tube closure is unknown. Dr. Williams together with  co-PI Dr. Dan Gorelick (Baylor College of Medicine) and co-investigator Aryeh Warmflash (Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center), will use a combination of zebrafish embryos and stem cell-based models to determine how magnesium contributes to healthy neural tube development.

Congratulations Margot!