UIC maternal health research center of excellence - overall project abstract the university of illinois at chicago (UIC) maternal health research center of excellence (center) will effectively…

UIC maternal health research center of excellence - overall project abstract the university of illinois at chicago (UIC) maternal health research center of excellence (center) will effectively contribute to eliminating maternal morbidity and mortality by taking a system-level approach to addressing maternal health inequity. The center convenes investigators and leaders from diverse disciplines and embodies decades of maternal health expertise in research, education, and community partnership, including several pioneers in the field of maternal health. The overall goal of the center is to advance maternal health research by examining the mechanisms by which structural inequity contributes to maternal health disparities and to develop innovative clinical strategies to prevent maternal mortality (MM), reduce severe maternal morbidity (SMM), and promote maternal health equity in partnership with communities. We will move away from a focus on individual outcomes and contributors to inequality and focus on studying ways to leverage systems for large-scale impact. The theme of the center is to synergize multilevel systems of change for maternal health equity. The specific aims include: aim 1. Conduct robust interprofessional research on maternal health equity, using a multilevel approach, with the goal of decreasing preventable maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, and promote maternal health equity among women that experience persistent disparities. Aim 2. Serve as a hub for maternal health career development and work-force training for early-stage investigators interested in research training. Aim 3. Disseminate effective strategies for improving comprehensive postpartum care and innovative research methods to address maternal health inequalities. Aim 4. Serve as a research resource and build a repository of maternal health data (biological, clinical, survey, neighborhood) broadly available for use by researchers. Aim 5. Facilitate and strengthen community partnerships to support the development of, and engagement in, scholarship, dissemination, and translation of maternal health research. The UIC maternal health research center of excellence consists of three cores: research, community partnership, and training. We propose three complimentary projects: 1) multilevel exposure to adversity across the life-course; 2) multilevel predictive modeling for maternal health equity; and 3) implementing a novel model of postpartum care to improve outcomes in rural and urban community sites (prospective intervention).