HHS Awards $1.3 Million in Maternal and Child Research Grants

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today awarded a total of $1,296,626 in grants to three universities, one medical center and a nonprofit organization for research to improve health services for the nation’s mothers and children.

“From looking at teenage eating habits to how mothers’ stress affects their babies’ birthweight, these grant projects address significant health issues and promise to give rise to new recommendations in clinical practice," Secretary Thompson said. “They reflect one part of our broader efforts to improve the lives of mothers, children and families across the country.”

The new grants go to:

• the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, in the amount of $482,948, for a three-year study to examine adolescent eating patterns and develop nutritional interventions;

• the Rand Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif., $273,488, for a two-year investigation into causes of class, ethnic and racial disparities in access to and use of primary and mental health care among mothers and children in California;

• the University of California, Berkeley, $256,679, for a three-year study to examine how strenuous working conditions, occupational fatigue and other stressful situations affect pregnancy outcomes such as preterm delivery (before 37 weeks of pregnancy) and low birthweight;

• Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., $255,529, for a four-year study that will examine central nervous system function of preterm infants in neonatal intensive care; and

• the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, N.Y., $27,982, for a two-year investigation into the effects of breastfeeding promotion on mothers in a low-income urban setting.

“Bringing research into practice is a government-wide public health effort,” said HRSA Administrator Elizabeth M. Duke. “HRSA research offers sound recommendations on how people of diverse backgrounds can be served better by the health care system.”

The Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Research Program (http://mchb.hrsa.gov/programs/research/overview.htm) supports studies that influence practices in clinical management and health care service delivery for mothers and children, especially in preventive care and early intervention.

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