Today is World Prematurity Day and
communities around the world are joining us to raise awareness of this global
problem. It also marks the launch of our newest Prematurity Research Center at
the University of Pennsylvania, to continue our commitment to provide all
babies a healthy start in life.
The March of Dimes is investing a
total of $75 million over 10 years in five prematurity research centers. Today,
the March of Dimes Prematurity Research
Center at the University of Pennsylvania, our fourth and newest
center was launched. Physicians and researchers will conduct team-based
research at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and The Children’s
Hospital of Philadelphia. Also collaborating on the project are investigators
from Columbia University Medical Center in New York and University of
Pittsburgh Magee-Womens Research Institute. In Pennsylvania, 10.7 percent, or
more than 16,000 babies, were born preterm in 2013. The center will focus on
the energy and metabolism of the cells in the reproductive tract, structural
changes in the cervix, and contribution of the placenta to normal and preterm
labor.
Dr. Jennifer Howse, President of the
March of Dimes says “We’re excited to add the expertise of the University of
Pennsylvania’s renowned scientists to our specialized network of investigators
nationwide working to discover precisely what causes early labor, and how it
can be prevented.”
Our other prematurity research
centers
Our first center opened at Stanford University School of Medicine in
California in 2011. Stanford University was followed by the Ohio Collaborative, a partnership of universities
in Ohio from Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland, which launched in
2013.
Our third Prematurity Research
Center was launched earlier this month at Washington University, St. Louis
Children’s Hospital in Missouri. Washington University’s research
center provides a collaborative, team-based research approach to discovering
the causes of preterm birth in order to develop new strategies to prevent it.
In Missouri, 11.3 percent, or more than 8,000 babies, are born too soon each
year. The Washington University center will focus on how sleep patterns and
environmental factors change a woman’s risk for premature birth and will
document changes in the structure of the cervix and uterus in connection to
preterm labor.
Stay tuned…A fifth prematurity
research center is coming soon. For more information on our prematurity
research centers, visit us here. With your
support and the help of these distinguished research centers, more babies will
have a healthy start to life.
To find out more about World
Prematurity Day and how to become involved, visit our Facebook page.
No comments:
Post a Comment