The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced awards totaling $24 million in first-year funding to establish several Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence. According to an NIH news release, the grants are expected to last seven years and total as much as $168 million, pending the availability of funds.
The awards are part of NIH’s Implementing a Maternal Health and Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE) initiative, which was launched in 2019 to address high rates of pregnancy-related complications and deaths in the United States.
Compared to other high-income countries, the U.S. experiences a high rate of maternal deaths, with more than 1,200 such deaths reported in 2021. In addition, tens of thousands more Americans suffer severe pregnancy-related complications annually, raising risks of future health problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes and mental health conditions. According to NIH, stark disparities in these maternal health outcomes are affected by racial and ethnic background, age, education, socioeconomic status and geographic region.
“The magnitude and persistence of maternal health disparities in the United States underscore the need for research to identify evidence-based solutions to promote health equity and improve outcomes nationwide,” said Diana W. Bianchi, M.D., director of NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), in the release. “Through collaborations with community partners and others, the Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence will generate critical scientific evidence to help guide clinical care and reduce health disparities during and after pregnancy.”
The centers of excellence will include 10 research centers, plus a data innovation and coordinating hub and an implementation science hub. Together, the institutions are expected to conduct research on biological, behavioral, environmental, sociocultural and structural factors that affect pregnancy-related complications and deaths. They will also focus on gaining a better understanding of the disparities associated with maternal mortality and morbidity.
The centers will partner with community collaborators, like public health agencies, community health centers and faith-based organizations. Additionally, they will provide training and professional development for maternal health researchers, including workers from backgrounds underrepresented in the biomedical research workforce.
Funding for the centers was awarded after a competitive process of peer review. The following institutions were selected as research centers:
- Avera McKennan Hospital, Sioux Falls, South Dakota – Maternal American-Indian Rural Community Health.
- Columbia University, New York City – NY Community-Hospital-Academic Maternal Health Equity Partnerships.
- Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi – Delta Mississippi Center of Excellence in Maternal Health.
- Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee – Addressing Key Social-Structural Risk Factors for Racial Disparities in Maternal Morbidity in Southeastern Wisconsin.
- Michigan State University, East Lansing – Maternal Health Multilevel Intervention/s for Racial Equity (MIRACLE) Center.
- Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta – Center to Advance Reproductive Justice and Behavioral Health among Black Pregnant/Postpartum Women and Birthing People.
- Stanford University, Stanford, California – Stanford PRIHSM: Preventing Inequities in Hemorrhage-related Severe Maternal Morbidity.
- Tulane University, New Orleans – Southern Center for Maternal Health Equity
- University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center – Center for American Indian/Alaska Native Resilience, Culture, and Maternal Health Equity.
- University of Utah, Salt Lake City – ELEVATE Center: Reduction of Maternal Morbidity from Substance Use Disorder in Utah.
In addition, Johns Hopkins University will serve as the data innovation and coordinating hub for the effort, supporting collection of high-quality data and providing data science expertise. The University of Pennsylvania will serve as the implementation science hub, promoting the integration of research findings and evidence into public health, clinical practice and community settings.
Previous funding under the IMPROVE initiative has focused on the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on maternal health, the impact of racism and discrimination on maternal health outcomes in the context of the pandemic, biological risk factors related to maternal morbidity and mortality, and protective factors that improve the likelihood of healthy pregnancies.
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