Researchers Awarded $1 Million Prize At Magee-Womens Research Summit

Follow KDKA-TV: Facebook | Twitter

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A $1 million prize was awarded to a team of researchers at the Magee-Womens Research Summit.

Lara Logan from "60 Minutes" was on hand to help present the check.

The winning research project from a professor at the University of Pittsburgh and Magee-Womens Research Institute focuses on how a defect in the placenta can lead to heart defects in babies.

"Well, we are first going to find out why the defects in the placenta cause heart defects and how and then down the road, this might lead to opportunities to fix things," Yaacov Barak, of the Magee-Womens Research Institute, said.

The prize was funded by the Richard King Mellon Foundation.