Opportunities for the federal government to advance necrotizing enterocolitis research

Background: Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the neonatal ICU with minimal progress in the research. Methods: Federal webpages were queried to look for funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) and to develop lists of funded projects on NEC to identify gaps in NEC-related research topics. Results: Over the past 30 years, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued two FOAs to stimulate research on NEC with $4.1 million set aside for the first year of respective funding. We identified 23 recently funded studies of which 18 were research projects, 4 training grants, and 1 conference grant support. Only one grant focused on parent and family engagement in the NICU. Conclusion: There are significant research gaps that can be addressed with adequate funding from the federal government on the prevention and treatment of NEC.