MODCAST

Dr. Ophelia Yin, an investigator at the March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco, on her recent research finding four new genes associated with cellular changes in the uterus during preeclampsia — findings that have helped widen the aperture of preeclampsia research past the placenta and into the uterus.

Dr. Christina Megli, a 2025 March of Dimes Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Research Award winner, discusses her discovery of 'first responder' macrophage immune cells in the amniotic sac in healthy pregnancy — a finding that may one day lead to new risk prediction tests and therapeutics to slow or prevent preterm birth.

Dr. Brice Gaudillière, an investigator at the March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center at Stanford, on an upcoming Randomized Controlled Trial he is heading that will test two common over the counter drugs — Aspirin and Prevacid, an acid reflux medication — as possible therapeutics to prevent spontaneous preterm birth.

Dr. Frank Lee, a Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and a 2026 winner of a March of Dimes Discovery Grant, discusses his research on HIF2 gene suppression as a way to treat preeclampsia.

Dr. Thomas Jansson, the 2026 winner of the March of Dimes Agnes Higgins Award in Maternal-Fetal Nutrition, the Vice Chair of Research for the University of Colorado Anschutz Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the department’s Florence Crozier Cobb Endowed Professor and Chief of the Division of Reproductive Sciences, discusses his research showing that contrary to popular belief, it is not the fetus, but a placental protein signaling hub called mTOR, that is the primary architect of fetal growth.

Dr. Leonard Zon, winner of the 2026 March of Dimes Richard B. Johnston, Jr., MD Prize, Director of the Stem Cell Research Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, and the Grousbeck Professor of Pediatric Medicine at Harvard Medical School, discusses his career using the 1.5-inch zebrafish to study human disease.

Dr. Tomiko Oskotsky, who co-directs The March of Dimes Database for Preterm Birth Research, discusses the database’s recent wins: being chosen for a National Science Foundation AI program and launching an AI assistant called ChatPTB, or ChatPreTermBirth.

Dr. Rupsa Boelig, a 2025 March of Dimes Discovery Research Grant winner and an Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine at Philadelphia’s Thomas Jefferson University, discusses her new study on the metabolism of aspirin in pregnant women with diabetes or a higher BMI. She hopes the study findings will shed light on whether these women may benefit from a higher aspirin dose to help prevent preeclampsia and/or preterm birth.

Dr. Ramkumar Menon, professor and director of the division of basic and translational research in obstetrics and gynecology at The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and one of two principal investigators at the new March of Dimes Texas Collaborative Prematurity Research Center, discusses his career and focus at the PRC: pregnancy-on-a-chip technology that simulates human pregnancy and will be used to validate drugs that may reverse preterm birth.

Dr. Catherine Spong, professor and chair of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and one of two principal investigators at the new March of Dimes Texas Collaborative Prematurity Research Center, discusses her career, research, and focus at the PRC: examining how nutrition, socioeconomic factors, the placenta, and bacterial vaginosis affect pregnancy outcomes.

Dr. Lynne Sykes, co-director of the March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center at Imperial College London, discusses her new paper detailing links between a woman’s blood type and her risk of spontaneous preterm birth depending on her gynecological and obstetrical history.

Dr. Wendy Kuohung, a 2025 March of Dimes Discovery Research Grant winner, discusses her original research to find novel therapeutics to treat preeclampsia associated with APOL1 gene variants.

March of Dimes Research Center for Advancing Maternal Health Equity investigator Dr. Sindhu Srinivas and doula Alexia Doumbouya discuss leading a randomized controlled trial (RCT) on whether doula integration throughout pregnancy, birth, and postpartum can decrease maternal depression and anxiety.

Dr. Lars Bode, the founding director of the Human Milk Institute at UC San Diego, the university’s Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation Chair of Collaborative Human Milk Research, and a professor of pediatrics at the university, discusses human milk, informally known as breast milk, and all its healing properties—that are not only crucial for mothers and babies, but may benefit people of all ages.

Prof. Dennis Lo, the winner of the 2025 March of Dimes Richard B. Johnston, Jr., MD Prize and the inventor of non-invasive prenatal testing, or NIPT, discusses the road to the discovery, the power of cell free DNA to detect cancer, and one of the places in the world he still hasn't been.

Dr. Tony Capra and Dr. Marina Sirota, scientists from the March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center (PRC) at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), discuss their foundational finding that spontaneous, or unplanned, preterm birth is fundamentally different from indicated preterm birth.

Dr. Diana Bianchi, a former March of Dimes Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Research Award winner, discusses the ability of prenatal testing to detect maternal cancer, her discovery of microchimerism, a potential prenatal therapeutic for Down syndrome, and whether the subjects in Vermeer's paintings were pregnant. This episode was recorded March 4, 2025. As of the episode air date in May 2025, Dr. Bianchi no longer held the position of director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

Leading micronutrient expert Dr. Kimberly O’Brien, a Professor of Human Nutrition at Cornell University and the 2025 recipient of the March of Dimes Agnes Higgins Award in Maternal-Fetal Nutrition, discusses what we know—and don't know—about iron requirements, metabolism, and use in pregnancy.

Dr. Phillip Bennett, a co-director of the March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center at Imperial College London, discusses a historic randomized controlled trial (RCT) that will test a vaginal probiotic's ability to reduce preterm birth risk.

Dr. Jamie Lo, an Associate Professor at Oregon Health & Science University, and Dr. Adam Crosland, an Assistant Professor at Oregon Health & Science University, discuss the risks of substance use, particularly cannabis, in pregnancy.