Emre Seli: It’s Time for the March of Dimes October Research Brief
Emre Seli, Professor at Yale School of Medicine, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“It’s time for the March of Dimes October Research Brief:
Awards
The nomination and application windows have closed for all but one of our major grants and awards; the March of Dimes Richard B. Johnston, Jr., MD Prize is still up for grabs. Our most prestigious award, the Prize celebrates a lifetime of profound medical and scientific advances in prenatal development, pregnancy, and birth. And a substantial proportion of winners go on to claim another renowned award: The Nobel Prize.
The nomination window closes in days – put forward a trailblazer now.
Blog
Our featured blog is a fascinating deep dive into a prevalent type of preeclampsia among women with Sub-Saharan African ancestry: one caused by APOL1 gene variants. Two different mutations in the gene became widespread in people from Sub-Saharan Africa to protect against a deadly parasite carried by a fly. The mutations also increased the chances of developing preeclampsia. Today, we know that APOL1 variants likely account for about 12% of preeclampsia cases in African American women in the US. And a March of Dimes researcher wants to change that. That’s why, as part of her March of Dimes Discovery Research grant, Dr. Wendy Kuohung is looking for new medications to treat this type of preeclampsia. How? She’s growing placental cells carrying APOL1 variants in her Boston University lab. She’s then testing different compounds on the cells to find out which ones counteract the stress these variants cause.
Want to know more? Read the blog here.
Podcast
Doulas are in the spotlight. These days, it’s not uncommon to hear about them attending births, speaking publicly about their work, or mentioned in the context of healthy pregnancy and birth. And yet, there’s very little scientific evidence about their impact on birth outcomes or maternal health beyond birth. But that’s changing right now, with an ongoing randomized controlled trial (RCT) led by March of Dimes Research Center for Advancing Maternal Health Equity investigator Dr. Sindhu Srinivas and doula Alexia Doumbouya. They’re on MODCAST discussing their RCT on whether doula integration throughout pregnancy, birth, and postpartum can decrease maternal depression and anxiety.
Publications
Stillbirth is associated with postpartum severe maternal morbidity compared with gestational age matched and term live births
Read the full article.
African-American Women’s Early-Life Exposure to Neighborhood Mortgage Discrimination and Preterm Birth Rates: A Population-Based Study
Read the full article.
ABO blood group antigens influence host-microbe interactions and risk of early spontaneous preterm birth
Read the full article.
That’s all for this month. More in November.
Dr. Emre Seli
Chief Scientific Advisor
March of Dimes.”
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