On April 12,we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the announcement that the Salk vaccine was safe, effective and potent. A new exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History entitled "Whatever Happened to Polio" will open on April 12, marking the occasion.

The March of Dimes funded Dr. Jonas Salk's groundbreaking work on the polio vaccine and then, through its volunteers and health networks, organized the vaccination clinics, record keeping, parents' meetings, blood samplings, stand-by transportation, and make-up clinics for absentees at field trial sites around the country.

Today, one way our work to save babies continues through our Prematurity Research Initiative that you will read about in this issue. Your support makes these works possible as we fight against the growing crisis of premature births.

This month's Personal Spotlight features the story of Lily, who was born at 16 weeks and sadly didn't survive. Because you are part of the March of Dimes family, we're sharing this story with you. Also in the newsletter, you'll find information about:

Prenatal Testing

Prenatal tests are the tests you and your baby receive while you are pregnant. They allow health care providers to learn about how a baby is doing before birth, as well as how Mom is doing during her pregnancy.

Some prenatal tests, such as blood tests, urine tests and blood pressure checks are routine—meaning all pregnant women get them. Others, such as amniocentesis, are not offered routinely, but only if you or your baby is at increased risk of certain problems or conditions.

Find out more about what you need to know from our
Pregnancy & Newborn Health Education Center.^®

That's why we're letting you know about the March of Dimes new Prematurity Research Initiative. With initial funding of more than $2 million, we've invested in six extremely promising research projects specifically targeted at finding out what causes premature birth and how it can be prevented or stopped. This new initiative supplements our ongoing investments in a wide variety of research projects investigating causes of death and disability in newborns.

The six new grantees were selected from a field of more than 80 applicants so they represent the best of the best. Let's meet them.

– Dr. Sarah K. England of the University of Iowa College of Medicine is studying how uterine muscle contractions can be controlled to prevent or stop preterm labor.

– Dr. Mala Mahendroo at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center is doing research on how cervical changes that lead to labor can be used as a basis for predicting and preventing preterm labor.

– Also at the University of Texas, Dr. Carole R. Mendelson is looking at the role a protein in fetal lung surfactant may play in triggering labor.

– At the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Jerome F. Strauss is identifying genetic variations that may account for the higher rate of preterm delivery among African-Americans.

– Washington University's Dr. Louis J. Muglia is working to identify genes that play key roles in the timing of spontaneous and preterm labor.

– Dr. Stephen J. Lye, at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, is studying genetic patterns that may help predict whether preterm labor will progress to preterm delivery.

Your support makes these research grants possible. We're doing all we can to reduce premature births, and hope we can count you as an ally in this fight. Fifty years ago, people like you helped us defeat polio. Together we can win again.