Neonatal Research Network: the Lurie Children's - Northwestern University Study Center

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PROJECT SUMMARY Improving neonatal outcomes and addressing outcome disparities for mothers and their infants require national centers with excellence in clinical care and research that partner with communities to address these challenges equitably. The existence of these disparities based on race and ethnicity, specifically in maternal and infant mortality and preterm birth, highlight the complex prenatal and postnatal social and biological factors that influence pregnancy outcomes. The NICHD Neonatal Research Network (NRN), by creating a geographically diverse multi-institutional research infrastructure, has an ongoing commitment to improving health outcomes and reducing known disparities in infants born preterm and in other high-risk situations. The Lurie Children’s - Northwestern University Study Center, comprised of the Division of Neonatology at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and the Department of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, is anchored by 12,000 deliveries per year and 1700 admissions per year to our 148 NICU beds at Lurie Children’s Hospital and Prentice Women’s Hospital and our collaboration with our partners at the Northwestern Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units (MFMU) Study Center. We have a long-standing tradition of clinical excellence, investigator-initiated and multi-center investigation, a commitment to train the next generation of physician scientists, and advocacy to promote health equity. Thus, we are well-positioned to be a strong addition as a Clinical Center to the NRN. To achieve the goals of the NRN, the Lurie Children’s-Northwestern Study Center will: 1) capitalize on the existing synergistic relationships within the Lurie Children’s / Northwestern Medical Center and underserved neighborhoods of Chicago to “facilitate greater involvement of diverse populations” and promote recruitment of pregnant women and their newborns for study protocols and facilitate their retention through the follow-up period; 2) propose and participate in novel clinical studies and analyses that capitalize on unique resources at the Lurie Children’s-Northwestern site; 3) utilize our site’s effective organizational structure and management approach to support the objectives of the NRN; 4) establish and implement high-quality data and biospecimen collection processes that meet the requirements and standards of the NRN based on our current success with these processes; and 5) contribute to the scientific collaboration among the NICHD, the NRN and MFMU clinical centers, and the Data Coordinating Center to support the research networks’ objectives.