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Research Opportunities

Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM) Research Opportunities for Fellows

Providing outstanding research training is a major objective of this fellowship program with the goal of each fellow completing a thesis that meets the requirements of the American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology (ABOG). The fellow will receive a minimum of 12 months of protected time for research per ABOG and Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) guidelines. The first-year fellow has a four-week rotation mid-year to develop areas of interest and identify possible mentors. The goal of this rotation is to choose a project, identify a mentor, develop an outline for the proposed study, and begin an Institutional Review Board (IRB) application.

Research mentors can be within and external to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. An ideal research mentor will provide guidance for the design, completion, and publication of the research thesis. The research mentor will be an established scientist with extensive extramural funding in the form of National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants or other large non-University of Iowa sources. 

The second year of our fellowship is the designated research year. This year has been designed so that clinical involvement is limited to no more than 10% of the fellow’s time. In the third year, additional months of electives focusing on specific clinical or research areas will also be assigned to each fellow under the direction of the program director.

There are multiple areas of research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Carver College of Medicine, and the university at large. Perinatal research is being conducted by members of the division and the departments of medicine, pediatrics, anesthesia, genetics, psychiatry, orthopedics, and epidemiology. Most laboratories on campus are open to fellow participation. There are university-wide core facilities to support research.

Reproductive Science Research

Within the department there is the Reproductive Science Research Division. This division is well-funded and houses the Women’s Health Tissue Repository. This bio-repository includes the maternal Fetal Tissue Bank, the Paternal Contributions to Children’s Health Biobank, the Well Woman Bank, the Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Biobank, and the Gynecologic Malignancies Biobank. We have ultrasound reporting software and image storage available for ultrasound-based research projects.

Rural Maternal Health Disparities Research

There is an emerging opportunity for UI MFM Fellows to study rural maternal health disparities due to a recent grant award. In September 2019, the MFM Division, in partnership with the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) received a five-year, $10 million grant from the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) to improve maternal health outcomes in the state.

Iowa is one of nine states to receive a State Maternal Health Innovation Program grant from HRSA. The award will be used to create and implement innovative strategies to address disparities in maternal health and improve maternal health outcomes, with a particular emphasis on preventing and reducing maternal death and severe maternal illness. Areas of emphasis include expansion of maternal telehealth programs and the development and implementation of a rural track for the OBGYN residency, the Iowa Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (IMQCC), a mobile simulation unit, and certified nurse-midwifery training program.

Stephen Hunter, MD, PhD, UI professor of obstetrics and gynecology, vice chair for obstetrics and co-director of the Iowa Statewide Perinatal Care Program, is the principal investigator on the grant, and the team includes UI faculty in the departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Epidemiology, and staff at the IDPH.

University of Iowa MFM Fellows Thesis Projects (Current and Previous)
Fellow Mentor UI Department Thesis Project
Nicole Masse Cynthia Wong Anesthesia A randomized controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of multimodal prophylactic uterotonics in patients undergoing non-elective cesarean section after a trial of labor
Sarah Wernimont Eric Taylor Biochemistry Metabolic control of trophoblast differentiation and transport
Jessica Sheng Mark Santillan Obstetrics & Gynecology Endothelin-1 is associated with preeclampsia at the time of diagnosis
Alexandria Betz Mark Santillan and Gary Pierce Obstetrics & Gynecology and Health & Human Physiology Plasma endothelin-1, arterial stiffness and mean arterial pressure in the first trimester are predictive of the diagnosis of preeclampsia
Erin Fricke Steven McElroy Pediatrics and Neonatology Exposure to LPS-induced Maternal Inflammation Induces Direct Placental Injury Without Alteration in Placental Blood Flow
Jena Swanson Andrew Lidral Craniofacial Anomalies Research Center

Molecular Mechanisms Involved in Non-Syndromic Oral-Facial Clefting at the 8q24 Locus

Nina Moreira Val C. Sheffield Medical Genetics BBS3 Plays a Distinct Role in the Pathogenesis of Congenital Hydrocephalus in a Ciliopathy Mouse Model
Jason Picconi Patrick Brophy Pediatric Nephrology Kidney-Specific Expression of GFP by In-Utero Delivery of Pseudotyped Adeno-Associated Virus 9
Chao Li Christie Thomas Nephrology Aspirin Inhibits the Expression and Release of sFLT1 from Primary Human CTBs Induced by Hypoxia, via Cyclo-Oxygenase 1
Jona Conklin Stephen Hunter Obstetrics & Gynecology Naturally Occurring Antibodies to Group B Streptococcus in Pregnant Women
Kathy Kyser Peter Cram Internal Medicine The Association Between Hospital Obstetrical Volume and Maternal Postpartum Complications
Karishma Rai Stephen Hunter Obstetrics & Gynecology Prevention of Group B Streptococcus (GBS) colonization of multiple GBS serotypes using a novel GBS vaccine
Lori Day Sarah Englund Physiology Single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the KCNN3 gene associate with preterm birth
Mark Santillan Curt D. Sigmund Physiology Pregnant mice lacking indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase exhibit preeclampsia phenotypes
Kristi Borowski Jeff Murray Pediatrics and Neonatology Neonatal Genetic Variation in Steroid Metabolism and Key Respiratory Function Genes and Perinatal Outcomes in Single and Multiple Courses of Corticosteroids.