Investigating Possible Remedies for Craniosynostosis

Ann Arbor, MI — April 5, 2011 — An assistant professor in the Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry is one of 12 researchers nationwide to receive a prestigious award that will enable her to pursue cutting-edge biomedical applied research that has the potential to benefit children’s health.

Dr. Nan Hatch will receive $100,000 in research support annually for the next three years from The Hartwell Foundation to investigate the role tissue non-specific alkaline phosphatase may play in the development of craniosynostosis.  The award will support the direct costs of her research as well as appropriate video conferencing equipment to enable periodic communications with The Hartwell Foundation.

What It Is

Craniosynostosis is relatively common, affecting about one in 3,000 children.  It’s been associated with a myriad of problems and is a significant biomedical burden for afflicted children and their parents.

As a child is born, the soft spot or sutures at the top of the head allow the skull bones to slide over one another.  Following birth, the skull bones normally slide back and the child’s skull and brain continuing growing.  At birth, a child’s brain is about 25 percent of its adult size.  As the child continues to grow and develop, the skull normally expands to accommodate that growth.  In craniosynostosis, however, the skull bones fuse prematurely.  While the brain continues to grow, the skull does not, exerting pressure on the brain.  Mental retardation and other problems then occur.

In an attempt to remedy the problem, bones in the skull are broken to allow for growth and expansion.  However, children with craniosynostosis often need four or five surgeries by the time they are 18.  The physical, emotional, and financial stresses take a toll on children and their parents. 

Searching for Nonsurgical Treatment Option

“Our research is trying to show that pharmaceutical control of an enzyme whose activity is essential for bone mineralization, alkaline phosphatase, can prevent craniosynostosis,” Hatch said.  “If successful, our results will lead to the first and only nonsurgical treatment option for infants and children with craniosynostosis, and an enormous improvement in the quality of life for these patients.”

Hatch earned her DMD from Harvard in 1999, received an orthodontic certificate from the University of Washington in 2003, and went on to complete a PhD in molecular and cell biology in 2005.  She joined the U-M School of Dentistry as a post-doctoral fellow and, in 2007, won two first place Hatton Awards in both the American and International Association for Dental Research competition for her research on fibroblast growth factor signaling in bone mineralization and craniofacial development.  The awards are the preeminent dental research awards given annually by the associations.  In 2008, she won the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research Harold M. Frost Young Investigator Award.

Dr. Sunil Kapila, chair of the Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry, lauded Hatch for being awarded the prestigious and highly competitive grant from The Hartwell Foundation.  “This award and Dr. Hatch’s previous accomplishments are well deserved and recognize both her achievements and her future promise to biomedical sciences in craniofacial anomalies,” he said.  “I believe her proposed studies could provide novel treatment strategies for non-invasive treatment of children with craniosynostosis, offering hope to them as well as their families.”