Lorenzo Botto
Lorenzo Botto, MD is co-PI of the Utah Center for Birth Defects Research and Prevention. Dr. Botto is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Utah and is a board certified pediatric geneticist and medical epidemiologist with a research emphasis on genetic and environmental factors that increase the risk for congenital heart defects.
What are your research interests?
My research interests are understanding congenital heart defects (CHD), their causes, and ways to prevent CHD from occurring.
Why do you study birth defects?
Why do you think the NBDPS is important?
I think the NBDPS is important because it is the largest systematic study designed to find causes of birth defects using modern epidemiologic and genetic methods. It is also important because it brings together experts in public health, clinical research, and basic science in the search of the factors that have the biggest impact on people's health.
What do you think the big discoveries will be?
It is difficult to tell, and the future will likely surprise us. At a minimum, we can expect a better understanding the contribution of genetic factors to birth defects, and ways that environmental factors may influence their occurrence. We may also find unexpected causes of birth defects that we hadn't thought about.
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