NICHD maternal fetal medicine units network

ABSTRACT This proposal describes the team, environment, and resources of The Ohio State University (OSU) Center that allow it to substantively and meaningfully participate in, and meet the objectives of, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver NICHD Maternal Fetal Medicine Units (MFMU) Network. The OSU Center has demonstrated strong performance and experience in conducting clinical and translational research due to its scientific expertise, excellent infrastructure, and institutional support. The research team for this proposal is led by Maged Costantine, MD, who serves as Division Director for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and PI for the MFMU Network Center, and William Grobman, MD, MBA, who serves as Vice-Chair for the Department of OB/GYN and Alternate PI for the MFMU Network Center. In addition to their productivity within the MFMU Network, both the PI and Alternate PI bring extensive experience in study design, recruitment, data analysis, and dissemination of results. Their research foci on disparities in obstetric care and outcomes, perinatal pharmacology, epidemiology, clinical trial design, and translational research is complementary and will be an asset to the Network. The OSU Center will recruit study participants from racially and ethnically diverse populations at 2 medical centers with a combined total of more than 10,000 annual births, many of which are to high-risk individuals who receive prenatal care within the two systems. Our Center’s Nurse Coordinator, Anna Bartholomew, MPH, RN, BSN, CCRP, leads a large group of research staff capable of recruiting and retaining patients in the setting of a research organization that has 32 of years of experience in the MFMU Network; demonstrable experience in multiple other cooperative research settings, including the NICHD nuMoM2b Network, NICHD Maternal and Pediatric Precision in Therapeutics (MPRINT), NIH Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL), and the NIH Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative; and engagement with other multi-site initiatives such as the North American Fetal Treatment Network, Ohio Better Birth Outcomes, and Ohio Perinatal Research Network. We additionally benefit from a robust bioinformatics structure and versatile Electronic Medical Record System that captures antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum data and is readily available to authorized research personnel for data query and notification of research subjects’ eligibility; an extraordinary group of obstetrical sonographers and perinatal epidemiologists; and a mature research infrastructure supported by a CTSA grant shared with Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Our satellite site, Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, has an outstanding record of recruitment in the prior Network cycles, well-established research culture, and ambitious goals for MFMU Network participation. Our strong clinical and research collaboration with OSU neonatology [including in the Neonatal Research Network (NRN)], anesthesiology, pathology, the clinical laboratory, and pharmacology add strengths to our application. We look forward to continuing our tradition of service, strong performance, and innovation in the renewed NICHD MFMU Network, and accept the RFA’s capitation and participatory stipulations.