maternal health

IRP Scientists Sound Off in Three-Minute Talks

Annual Competition Tests Researchers’ Communication Skills

three hourglasses

Many scientists say that English is the international language of science, but if it is, it’s a form of English that many fluent English speakers might have trouble understanding. From ‘allosteric modulator’ to ‘zinc finger nuclease,’ the words that scientists use to talk about what they do can sound like a foreign language.

Fortunately, many current and upcoming scientists are making it a priority to learn how to communicate with people who don’t share their deep knowledge. As part of this effort, NIH’s annual Three-Minute Talks (TmT) competition brings forth dozens of IRP postbacs, graduate students, and postdocs to talk about their research to an audience of peers outside their own labs. On June 27, this year’s 11 finalists delivered clear, engaging, and — most importantly — short talks on topics ranging from skin bacteria to saliva.

Moms’ Caffeine Consumption May Affect Babies’ Brains

Findings Could Explain Why Caffeine Exposure In-Utero Increases Kids’ Risk for Obesity

steaming cup of coffee

Between books, the media, and well-meaning friends and relatives, new parents are inundated with advice about how to set their kids up for a happy and healthy future. However, what parents do before their children are even born can also have a huge impact on how they turn out. For instance, new IRP research suggests that a pregnant woman’s caffeine consumption can rewire her baby’s brain in ways that put the child at increased risk for obesity later in life.

Research Helps Guide Families Safely Through Pandemic

IRP’s Diana Bianchi Honored for Leading Pediatric COVID Response

Dr. Diana Bianchi

When the first reports of COVID-19 came out, infectious disease experts and healthcare providers thought children might be spared its most dire effects. After all, the news reports and health statistics showed that nearly all serious cases occurred in the elderly, people with certain pre-existing conditions, and those who spent their days and nights caring for COVID patients. However, as case counts rose and disruptions in daily life grew, the medical and psychological effects of COVID on children became apparent — and the impact was alarming. It soon became clear that something had to be done to understand the disease's effects on infants, children and teens, as well as pregnant women and traditionally underserved communities.

It was, appropriately, Mother’s Day when then-NIH Director Francis Collins sought help from Diana W. Bianchi, M.D., Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and a senior investigator in the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). An expert in infant health and genetic conditions like Down syndrome, Dr. Bianchi was just the person to initiate large-scale studies across the country to assess the severity of COVID in specific populations, the safety and efficacy of vaccination and treatment, and the impact of mitigation efforts such as masking. For this critical leadership, Dr. Bianchi was named a finalist for the 2022 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal for COVID-19 Response.

Postdoc Profile: Finding the Narrative Behind the Numbers

Dr. Shameka Poetry Thomas Documents Black Women’s Experiences With Race and Racism

Dr. Shameka Poetry Thomas

The numbers are clear: Black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than White women in the United States. However, the reasons why are less clear. By listening to patient’s stories, IRP postdoctoral fellow Shameka Thomas, Ph.D. hopes to pinpoint potential explanations for this racial health disparity. 

“We are losing mothers and children because we are simply not listening,” Dr. Thomas says.

Trained as a medical sociologist at the University of Miami, Dr. Thomas has devoted her career to documenting the lived experiences of patients of color, particularly women, who are perceived as Black. Dr. Thomas contextualizes patient’s narratives within a framework of ‘street race,’ which refers to how a person’s racial identity is perceived by others, regardless of their self-reported racial identity. Examining the influence of street race on women’s healthcare experiences, she explains, allows researchers to determine how health disparities are influenced by “how others see you.”