The Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the March of Dimes Foundation announced the establishment of a new $10 million center to study preterm births led by physicians and researchers from the University’s Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
The Prematurity Research Center will focus on projects aimed at discovering the causes of preterm birth and developing new strategies to prevent it, officials said. The March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center at Penn is created with the $10 million investment, over the next five years, from the March of Dimes.
The center brings together more than 40 scientists, physicians, faculty and staff. Under the leadership of Deborah A. Driscoll, MD, chair of the department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Penn Medicine, research projects at the new center will focus on three themes:
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— Bioenergetics, Mitochondria and Genetics: Mitochondria are the body’s “cellular power plants,” and regulate critical cellular pathways. This team will work to identify abnormalities in mitochondria function and mitochondrial DNA that contribute to preterm birth;
— Cervical Remodeling: As pregnancy progresses, the cervix must continuously adjust to support the weight of the growing fetus and remain closed until it is time for delivery. While doctors know this process occurs, they don’t know how it happens. This research theme will study the biomechanical processes in the cervix and how factors such as the microbiome lead to premature cervical remodeling;
— Placental Dysfunction: Researchers will study the placentas from women with preterm and term births to identify changes in the mitochondria, metabolic patterns, epigenetics and the microbiome that may cause placental dysfunction and ultimately lead to preterm birth.
The new center, officials said, complements Penn Medicine’s Prematurity Prevention Program, which aims to identify women at risk for premature labor or delivery.
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Officials said the need for the center is great — preterm birth is the most common and serious newborn health problem in the U.S. affecting nearly half a million babies each year. In Pennsylvania alone, 10.7 percent, or more than 16,000 babies, were born preterm in 2013.
