CLEVELAND — The National Institutes of Health has awarded University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital and Case Western Reserve University researchers with a $2.8 million federal grant to research Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. 

SIDS is the nation's biggest cause of death of infants from one month to 1 year old, with more than 3,400 cases reported annually, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

University Hospitals said in a release that the disorder has many unexplained causes that have "plagued researchers for decades." Now, health officials hope the new five year, $2.8 million grant can help investigate SIDS with a model they developed the mimics the conditions with most SIDS cases. 

“A major challenge with SIDS research is developing an accurate model that reproduces many of the SIDS abnormal features,” said Dr. Peter MacFarlane, associate professor and director of neonatology basic research at the School of Medicine, UH Rainbow and lead investigator. “One of our model’s special features is that it allows us to simulate conditions surrounding many SIDS cases. We are then able to test some of our new theories about what can cause SIDS, like involuntary respiratory characteristics.”

MacFarlane and his team plan to focus on the abnormal levels of proteins and cells in the brainstem and carotid body, which UH said are two important areas of the central and peripheral nervous system involved in regulating breathing. They said they believe it helps lead to SIDS. 

“We are also testing a unique drug that may one day be used to prevent many SIDS cases from occurring,” MacFarlane said in a release. “Our hope is that this research offers new insights into the causes of SIDS and could lead to early identification of at-risk infants so that we can intervene early enough to prevent such a devastating form of death from happening.”