The Arkansas Center's Mission is to reduce the prevalence of birth defects in Arkansas and the nation, as welll as to decrease the psychological, social, and economic impact of birth defects.

Through synergistic collaborations, the Arkansas Center for Birth Defects Research and Prevention combines surveillance, research and prevention to make a difference in the lives of children and their families. The Arkansas Center participates in the National Birth Defect Prevention Study, conducts local research studies and collaborates with researchers and public health experts across the country to develop public health programs to help prevent birth defects.

The Center’s work touches the lives of many and offers hope for a brighter future. The Arkansas Center staff are:

• Identifying how a woman’s intake of micronutrients and the way in which her body uses folic acid may affect the risk for heart defects
• Investigating how babies’ and parents’ genetic factors may modify risks of birth defects
• Searching for the causes of Trisomy 21 or Down Syndrome
• Studying cost and quality-of-life outcomes of birth defects to inform decisions about the economic value of birth defects prevention
• Exploring options for medical treatment of children with birth defects to provide the best care possible
• Leading the Arkansas Folic Acid Coalition to empower Arkansas women of childbearing age to take daily folic acid to optimize their chance of having healthy babies