The Medical School will share in a $400,000 grant for basic studies in problems dealing with the birth process and the origin of life, George P. Berry, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, announced yesterday.

With an award from the Association for the Aid of Crippled Children, the Medical School, in conjunction with the Boston Lying-In Hospital, will carry on a coordinated program of research and teaching, centering on problems associated with the beginning and early developments of human life. Funds will be made available over a ten-year period.

"Studies in recent years," Leonard W. Mayo, Executive Director of the Association, explained, "have led to the realization that there is a tremendous need for continued research in this field."

Mayo stated that one of the primary objectives of the Association is the determination of the causes of premature births, which account for half of all infant deaths. Each year 160,000 infants die during and after birth, Mayo said. These deaths comprise ten per cent of the total mortality rate in the United States.

The new grant is in addition to $371,000 previously given by the Association for work in this field. The program will be supervised by Duncan E. Reid, professor of Obstetrics, Clement A. Smith, associate professor of Pediatrics, and Claude A. Vilee, Jr., associate professor of Biological Chemistry.

The Association for the Aid of Crippled Children has long supported basic research on problems of congenital malformation, pre-maturity and birth injuries.