The National Institutes of Health has recently awarded two new grants to expand its Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence. These centers were launched last year as part of NIH’s IMPROVE initiative, which aims to develop and evaluate innovative approaches to reduce pregnancy-related complications and deaths and promote maternal health equity. The expansion of these centers was made possible by an increase in funding in the fiscal year 2024 federal budget.
The two new research centers are located at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Each center received approximately $2 million in first-year funding, and the grants are expected to last for six years. The UIC Maternal Health Research Center of Excellence will be led by principal investigator Rachel Caskey, M.D., while at the University of Pittsburgh, Dara Mendez, Ph.D., will lead the Equity in Maternal and Birthing Outcomes and Reproductive Health through Community Engagement project.
With the addition of these two new centers, the Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence now include 12 research centers, a data innovation and coordinating hub, and an implementation science hub. These institutions collaborate with community partners to design and implement research projects that address a wide range of factors affecting pregnancy-related complications and deaths, including biological, behavioral, environmental, sociocultural, and structural factors. Their work focuses on populations that experience health disparities, such as racial and ethnic minorities, socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, those living in underserved rural areas, and people with disabilities.
The IMPROVE initiative is co-led by NICHD, the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health, and the National Institute of Nursing Research, with involvement from other NIH institutes, centers, and offices.