BOZEMAN -- Montana State University researcher Jay Radke will spend three years serving March of Dimes, the organization that helped his own family for nearly two decades.

Radke received a $223,000 grant from the March of Dimes, which will fund his research into birth defects.

"I thought it was a pretty cool connection. It's a motivating connection," Radke said.

Radke was a student at Eastern Montana College in Billings when his son, Dan, was born about 23 years ago with a defective heart. Dan was flown the same day to Denver, where the doctors discovered he needed open-heart surgery. Dan had the operation and spent about six weeks in Denver. He then had the surgery again when he was 2 and 13. Each time, March of Dimes helped the family with food, lodging and travel expenses.

"We have been intimately associated with the services of the local March of Dimes for the better part of 18 years," Jay Radke said. He added that the organization didn't realize the connection when it awarded him the grant.

Dan Radke is now an MSU student majoring in K-12 health enhancement. He's an assistant coach for the Bozeman Spikes baseball team, plans to become a teacher and works as a student assistant in his dad's lab in the veterinary molecular biology department.

"It's exciting and nice to hear there's a lot more people than me with the same difficulties, and they are looking for answers," Dan said.

Jay Radke is one of the MSU researchers who recently received widespread attention for their findings on the parasite Toxoplasma gondii and the disease it causes, toxoplasmosis. Toxoplasma is one of the most common infections in the world. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up to 60 million people in this country may be infected. Most people never realize they have it, however, because they have a healthy immune system. The parasite is best known for its role in AIDS and congenital birth defects. Radke's research will focus on the parasite's relationship to birth defects.

People can become infected by eating contaminated commercial meat products, but the most likely source is the common house cat or farm cat, Radke said. Parasites that develop in cells lining the intestine can be shed in the environment -- usually in the litter box or garden. While parasites are dormant in this stage, they can remain infectious for long periods of time in the environment.

Babies with toxoplasmosis can suffer a range of symptoms, including eye infection, an enlarged liver and spleen, jaundice and pneumonia. Some are severely mentally retarded, have vision loss, suffer from cerebral palsy or seizures and may require lifelong medical attention. Some die within a few days of birth.

Little is known of how infection can produce abnormalities in the fetus, but evidence suggests that the parasite prefers cells of the central nervous system and eyes, Radke said.

"We want to find out why the parasite likes one cell type more than others, why it causes disease in some tissues, but avoids some as well," Radke said.