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.
