The analysis of genetic sequencing data from more than 34,000 people over a 17-year period by researchers at VUMC was published in eClinicalMedicine.

The children were born in Turkey with a smaller-than-normal head size, cataracts, severe developmental delay, intellectual disability and epilepsy.

Even after comprehensive testing, about 30% of children with short stature — height below the third percentile on a growth chart — do not have a definitive diagnosis, leading to extended surveillance, testing and anxiety.

The findings represent a significant advance toward development of more effective, targeted therapies for congenital diarrhea and enteropathies

The research is another step toward development of targeted therapies aimed at reducing the incidence and medical burden of this common condition.

Severe obesity — a condition of being 100 pounds or more overweight — has doubled in the United States over the past two decades to 9.2%, with the greatest increases among women and Latino populations.

The Vanderbilt Genetics Institute is the intellectual hub for genomics research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Vanderbilt University.