University Of California At Davis Receives $734,000 Grant From The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

DAVIS, Calif. -- The Program in International Nutrition at the University of California at Davis announced today it has received a three-year, $734,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr. Kenneth Brown, director of the program and a professor in nutrition, and post-doctoral researcher Marjorie Haskell will use the funding to study several treatments for night blindness in pregnant Nepalese women.

Approximately 10 percent of pregnant women in remote regions of Nepal suffer from night blindness and are 71/2 times more likely to die of pregnancy-related complications than other women. The work done by Brown and Haskell will help counteract vitamin A and other nutrient deficiencies associated with night blindness.

"This grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will be a tremendous help to our research," said Brown. "Having the recognition and support from the Foundation makes all of us in the program want to work even harder to create successful treatments."

Brown, an expert on the nutrition of women and children in developing countries, will provide pregnant women with vitamin A capsules, vitamin A-rich foods, or Ultra Rice that has been fortified with vitamin A. Brown hopes their research findings will be invaluable for nutrition policy-makers in Nepal and other countries where vitamin A deficiency is endemic.