Federal Grant Award Summary

Boston Children's Hospital received a $168,543 Project Grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) under the Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.847), awarded May 1, 2026, with completion targeted for March 31, 2031. The grant supports biomedical research investigating the mechanisms of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis suppression and recovery following long-term glucocorticoid treatment. The research addresses a critical clinical problem wherein chronic glucocorticoid therapy can suppress the HPA axis for up to one year after drug withdrawal, leaving patients vulnerable to life-threatening adrenal crises.

The project delivers investigator-initiated basic science research utilizing a preclinical mouse model of glucocorticoid-induced adrenal insufficiency (GIAI). Research activities include identifying the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying delayed adrenal function recovery, employing spatially informed single-cell analysis of steroidogenic pathway genes, and investigating how proliferating adrenal zona fasciculata cells regulate hormone biosynthesis. The research is designed to elucidate why the adrenal gland—rather than the hypothalamic-pituitary complex—represents the primary site of post-withdrawal GIAI, with implications for understanding and potentially preventing glucocorticoid-associated adrenal dysfunction in clinical populations.