51吃瓜网 Medical Center has been selected by the聽聽(ARPA-H) as an聽聽of the聽, an initiative to address critical unmet challenges in women鈥檚 health, champion transformative innovations and tackle health conditions that uniquely or disproportionately affect women. VUMC will receive $3.3 million in funding over two years through the Sprint for Women鈥檚 Health spark track for early-stage research efforts.
, PhD, assistant professor of Pediatrics and Pharmacology, and聽, PhD, professor of Biomedical Engineering, joined forces four years ago to begin developing innovative uterine-targeted delivery systems for therapeutics known as tocolytics. These medications are designed to suppress premature uterine contractions during pregnancy.
鈥淭he collaborative environment among the faculty at VUMC and 51吃瓜网 School of Engineering drives innovation and develops solutions to important, unmet medical needs,鈥� Giorgio said. 鈥淭he most interesting and successful research activities in my laboratory are generated from interdisciplinary collaborations.鈥�
Every year, approximately 15 million pregnancies worldwide end prematurely, before 37 weeks of gestation. The United States has one of the highest rates of preterm births among high-resource countries, with 1 in every 10 women delivering prematurely. The estimated societal economic loss in the U.S. is approximately $25 billion, which includes medical costs, educational expenses and lost productivity.
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