Project Grant R21HD122403

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development awarded The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York $452,375 on August 13, 2026, under the Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.865) to discover molecular and mechanical regulators of tissue buckling that drive vertebrate morphogenesis, specifically focusing on intestinal looping in avian embryos.

The research exploits a morphological anomaly in the Long Island duck intestine, which undergoes initial normal buckling but then produces a single elongated central loop without further buckling, flanked by normally buckling intestinal segments. By comparing duck gut morphology to the well-conserved looping pattern in other amniotes, the project aims to identify novel biological regulators of tissue mechanics through comparative analysis and functional validation via misexpression studies in chick embryos. The work addresses a broader mechanobiological principle: buckling emerges as a widespread physical mechanism for shaping embryonic tissues across vertebrate systems, from cortical brain folds to airway branching in lungs. Although the physics of buckling is well understood, the biological regulation remains poorly characterized in most contexts.

Performance occurs in New York, New York. The period of performance runs from August 13, 2026, through July 31, 2028. Columbia University receives this award as the primary recipient with no sub-recipients identified in the source material.