More than 200 scientists are advancing research to help prevent the 15 million preterm births each year worldwide.
Because premature birth is such a complex problem, March of Dimes has chosen Prematurity Research Centers and partners who can use different tools and methods to examine the factors involved in different ways.
The network of March of Dimes Prematurity Research Centers encompasses scientists in obstetrics, neonatology, genetics and genomics, immunology, engineering, informatics, and social sciences.
The five March of Dimes Prematurity Research Centers in the United States are located at Stanford University, Ohio Collaborative, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Pennsylvania, and at the University of Chicago-Northwestern University-Duke University center.
This month, March of Dimes and Ferring Pharmaceuticals announced that March of Dimes has selected Imperial College London as the first European partner to join its network of Prematurity Research Centers.
The March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center at Imperial College London is supported by a grant from Ferring Pharmaceuticals.
Both Ferring and March of Dimes are committed to advancing research to help prevent the 15 million preterm births each year worldwide.
“We’re delighted that the talented scientists at Imperial College London will join as the sixth March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center to help us get closer to a world in which all babies are born healthy,” said Stacey D. Stewart, president of March of Dimes.
“It’s vital that our team is able to share information and findings with colleagues outside of the U.S., in order to accelerate the discovery of solutions to the serious problem of premature birth.”
“Globally, too many babies are being born too soon, and too many families are suffering the consequences,” said Per Falk, executive vice president and chief science officer, Ferring Pharmaceuticals. “We believe that this new center will accelerate the development of new healthcare solutions that are urgently needed to help babies that are born earlier than expected.”
Phillip Bennett, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Imperial College London, and the principal investigator of the new Centre said, “We are proud to have been selected to join the March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center family.
“Our teams of world-class scientists will be using the latest technologies, some unique to Imperial, to study how the body recognizes and interacts with bacteria and other microbes in the birth canal. This will enable us to develop methods for predicting — and ultimately preventing — preterm birth.”
The March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center at Imperial College London will be a partnership between the College and three major London hospitals: Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea, St. Mary’s Hospital, and Chelsea and Westminster. Each of these hospitals delivers around 5,000 babies a year.
Each March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center is assigned a theme or research target. The theme selected for Imperial College London is entitled, “Microbe-Host Interactions.” This team of scientists will identify and characterize these complex processes in order to obtain insight into why some women are at higher risk for preterm birth.entrepreneurial culture and ties to industry.
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