Promoting community-based Kangaroo Care among mothers of low birth weight infants in rural India - SUMMARY. The primary objective of this K23 award is to provide Dr. Nisha Fahey, DO, MSc, Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the UMass Chan Medical School, with the research training, mentorship, and protected time necessary to accelerate her career as an independent physician-scientist committed to improving the health of mother-infant dyads. As a primary care pediatrician with global health fellowship training, Dr. Fahey is committed to reducing infant mortality among low birth weight infants, particularly in global settings. Her K23 research will focus on promoting the practice of Kangaroo Care, featuring skin-to-skin care, among mothers of low birth weight infants in rural India. Despite the lifesaving benefits of this low-cost therapy, community-based Kangaroo Care for low birth weight infants discharged from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) remains a crucial gap in research to prevent neonatal mortality. This proposal seeks to develop a multicomponent intervention that promotes the practice of Kangaroo Care after NICU discharge among mothers of low birth weight infants in rural India. The effects of poverty and adverse social circumstances further increase their risk of mortality. To achieve this goal, Dr. Fahey seeks to develop expertise in specific methodology and content areas including community-engaged research, implementation science, and trial design, including multiphase optimization strategy (MOST) design, in global settings. If granted this K23 award, Dr. Fahey will use these methods to perform a MOST design-based trial centered on the premise that the continuation of Kangaroo Care after NICU discharge among the mothers of low birth weight infants in rural Indian communities requires: 1) engaging communities to refine and pilot test community-informed interventions (Aims 1 and 2) and 2) developing an optimized, multicomponent intervention that balances impact and resources (Aim 3). Dr. Fahey leads a ten-year institutional collaboration between Bhaikaka University and UMass Chan Medical School focused on capacity-building research and community health in rural India, which ideally positions her to perform this proposed study. By the conclusion of this award, Dr. Fahey’s research and training plan will yield a community-informed, optimized, multicomponent intervention and the skillset to conduct an effectiveness trial in an R01 (PAR-22-105). Dr. Fahey has a well-established team of mentors with clinical and research expertise along with the track record and commitment needed to successfully support her in establishing a federally funded independent program of research to enhance maternal and infant health in global settings. After thoughtful review of the critiques received, Dr. Fahey and her mentorship team have carefully crafted a training plan that builds on existing strengths and addresses current gaps. This K23 award will build on existing international community partnerships and equip Dr. Fahey with the skills to advance her emerging program of research to focus on intervention development and evaluation in global settings.
