Faculty Brenna Hughes, MD, MSc (MFM), Anne Steiner, MD, MPH (REI Division Chief ) and Sarahn Wheeler, MD (MFM), will work collaboratively to study pregnancy and neonatal health (SPAN) after having received an award contract by the Population Health Network. Dr. Hughes will serve as PI; Dr. Steiner is an essential co-I for this award; and Dr. Wheeler will also be a co-investigator. The Population Health Network is funded by the Division of Intramural Population Health Research (DIPHR) at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD). The first year award is $995,000, and the total award will be $5.3 million if the multi-year contract is completed.
The Population Health Network designs and conducts original epidemiological, behavioral, and biostatistical research in a number of areas including encompassing pregnancy and related complications. The mission is to design and implement original research with the potential for high impact findings that will impact public health.
Study of Pregnancy And Neonatal Health (SPAN)
Under the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis, early life exposures can “program” an individual for health and chronic disease risk through cellular adaptations to biological processes. Prenatal exposures and genetic factors impact fetal growth and development and neonatal health, important determinants of life-long health and disease. This contract will include multiple sites with a goal to examine a) the father’s role, b) placental determinants, and c) timing of delivery in relation to fetal and neonatal health and development. A cohort study will be performed to collect common data elements from approximately 7,700 pregnant women and their neonates and approximately 3825 male partners with a randomized control trial conducted in women with gestational diabetes (approximately 720 women). African American women will be oversampled (~4250).