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March of Dimes has awarded a $300,000 prematurity research grant to James Padbury, MD, Chief of Pediatrics, Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island and professor and vice chair for Research, Department of Pediatrics, the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Dr. Padbury is working to identify the pathways that cause preterm birth and the impact that infection, proteins, and environmental and genetic factors have on them, leading to new strategies for prevention.
Dr. Padbury’s grant is one of seven that will be supported for the next three years by new March of Dimes Prematurity Research Initiative (PRI) grants. The nearly $2.7 million in new grants continues March of Dimes support for efforts to predict and prevent preterm birth. These 2009 grants bring the five-year-old program’s grant total to nearly $14 million.
“This research is critical to ending the epidemic of preterm birth,” said Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, president of the March of Dimes Foundation. “That’s why we created the PRI grants and continue to award them even in these difficult economic times. The goal is for every baby to be born healthy and full-term.”
“Rhode Island is proud to play a hands-on role in searching for the answers to prematurity by receiving one of the national Prematurity Research Initiative grants,” said Robert E. Pirri, Esq., March of Dimes Rhode Island Board Chair. “The March of Dimes Rhode Island Chapter has benefited from an ongoing relationship with Dr. Padbury and Women & Infants Hospital, and we’re hopeful that in the future, mothers and babies will benefit from this research.”
The March of Dimes calls on the federal government to fully fund the PREEMIE Act of 2006, which expands federal research on preterm labor and delivery, and the care and treatment, and outcomes of preterm and low birthweight infants, Dr. Howse said.
In December 2008, the March of Dimes and the Burroughs Wellcome Trust co-sponsored “Preventing Prematurity: Establishing a Network for Innovation and Discovery,” a meeting that brought together about 200 researchers from around the world to establish new partnerships on the problem of preterm birth and inspire other scientists to pursue studies in this area so crucial to maternal and infant health.
Preterm birth (before 37 completed weeks gestation) is a leading cause of infant death in the United States. Babies who survive an early birth often face serious and sometimes lifelong health problems, including breathing problems, jaundice, developmental delays, vision loss and cerebral palsy. More than 543,000 babies are born too soon each year, and recent federal statistics show that the nation’s preterm birth rate has risen to 12.8 percent -- a 36 percent increase since the early 1980s.
The 2009 PRI grantees intend to identify microbes that may cause preterm labor in some women, investigate the role of an enzyme in preventing uterine contractions and an early birth, and look at different groups of women to find genetic and environmental risk factors for prematurity. The other recipients are:
-- Jennifer C. Condon, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Cell Biology and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Magee-Women's Research Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA;
-- Michal Elovitz, MD, assistant professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA;
-- Sarah Katherine England, PhD, associate professor, Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA;
-- Ramkumar Menon, MS, PhD, associate research professor, Department of Epidemiology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA;
-- Deborah McColl Money, BSc, MD, FRCSC, associate professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC;
-- Kristina M. Adams Waldorf, MD, assistant professor, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
The March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health. With chapters nationwide and its premier event, March for BabiesSM, the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. For the latest resources and information, visit marchofdimes.com or nacersano.org.
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