Poor nutrition is linked to more than half of child deaths worldwide and to acute and chronic morbidity in children living in the developing world. The MAL-ED program studies the relationship between malnutrition and intestinal infections and the consequences of these conditions on various aspects of child development. It is a five-year, multi-site project administered by the Foundation for NIH and the Fogarty International Center and is supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation of approximately $30 million.