PROVIDENCE – Selected as the seventh scholar in the Brown University/Women & Infants Hospital Women’s Reproductive Health Research career-development program, Dr. Sarah M. Davis has worked at Women & Infants, a Care New England hospital, since 2015. She was selected as a WRHR scholar, the hospital reported, to support her research studying causes of preterm birth.
“Preterm birth remains an important public health concern. Current studies indicate that there are multiple pathways that may lead to preterm and term delivery, including inflammation,” Davis said in a statement. “Certain cells in the placenta release fetal DNA that circulates freely in maternal blood and may contribute to inflammation that could serve as a stimulus or biomarker for labor. I am excited to have the opportunity to investigate the underlying obstetric mechanisms as they relate to cell-free fetal DNA, inflammation and labor.”
Davis, a resident of Barrington, will work with Dr. Kristen A. Matteson, research director for the WRHR program, interim director of the division of research at Women & Infants and associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. In addition, she will work with her WRHR mentors, all of whom are also professors at The Warren Alpert Medical School: Surendra Sharma, research scientist at Women & Infants; Dr. James F. Padbury, pediatrician-in-chief and chief of neonatal/perinatal medicine at Women & Infants; and Dr. Katharine Wenstrom, director of the hospital’s division of maternal-fetal medicine.
The WRHR program was initiated in 1998 by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute. In 2005, Women & Infants and Brown University were awarded one of the competitive WRHR program grants and have successfully competed for a third funding cycle for the program. One of 15 currently active programs, the Brown/Women & Infants WRHR program provides physicians selected for the program to have protected time to develop and pursue their research careers in women’s reproductive health.
The program enables Davis and other WRHR scholars to devote three-quarters of their time to their research career development with support from mentors, research assistants and other research personnel.
Dr. Maureen G. Phipps, chair and Chace-Joukowsky professor of obstetrics and gynecology and assistant dean for teaching and research in women’s health at The Warren Alpert Medical School, professor of epidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health, and chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Women & Infants Hospital and Care New England, is principal investigator for the WRHR program in Providence.
“By having protected time for research and career development, junior clinician scientists are more prepared to compete in this competitive research environment,” Phipps said in the statement. “Women & Infants is honored to participate with Brown in the WRHR scholar program to cultivate the next generation of physician researchers in women’s health.”
The statement reported that WRHR scholars traditionally work within the WRHR scholar program for two to five years. They are, however, expected to secure funding so their research projects can continue independently of support from WRHR, Brown or Women & Infants Hospital.
Nancy Kirsch is a PBN contributing writer.
