Federal Funding and Sudden Infant Death Research, 1945-80

Abstract

This paper examines the role played by targeted funding in advancing research on a recalcitrant problem. A synoptic view of American studies of unexpected deaths of sleeping babies reveals two principal advances — (1) the establishment between 1945 and 1961 of sudden infant death `syndrome' as a problem for biomedical research, and (2) the recognition between 1969 and 1980 that many of the victims had congenital breathing abnormalities. Analysis of targeted federal funding shows that it played a lagging rather than leading role in both major advances. That is, while such funds provided little support for the initial insights, they fostered much of the follow-up work. A few suggestions about how funding agencies might handle significant yet recalcitrant problems are offered by way of conclusion.