Friends of Prentice’s Support for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Helps Bridge the Women’s Health Gap

This story was published in the September 2024 issue of The Philanthropist, a newsletter for supporters and friends of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

History of Friends of Prentice

Friends of Prentice was established in 1985 by renowned Chicago philanthropist Carol Lavin Bernick, who had been a patient at what would become Northwestern Medicine Prentice Women’s Hospital.

Ms. Lavin Bernick wanted to give back to the hospital that had cared for her so well during the birth of her daughter. Friends of Prentice gave men and women, young professionals and renowned doctors, and people of all ages and backgrounds a platform to support Northwestern research benefiting women’s health. To date, Friends of Prentice has awarded grants to more than 150 scientists.

The organization is gearing up to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Executive Director Kristen Field said she has seen the field grow since she joined the organization in 2019 and noted that much progress was made in part thanks to the organization’s long history of advocacy and fundraising.

“It’s been really great to watch the growth in emphasis on maternal-fetal medicine, as well as bring in some of the most incredible physicians and scientists and see the representation of maternal-fetal medicine doctors better represent the patients that they’re seeing,” she said.

She added that she credits Friends of Prentice’s success to the vibrancy of its community.

“We’re friends first—we’re nothing without the friends,” she said. “We’ve created a great Friends of Prentice family.”

Maternal health has long been a tough sell in medical research—an oversight that has led to widespread health inequities for pregnant women and their children, said Lynn Yee, MD, MPH, associate chief for Research in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Many women experience health problems before, during, and after pregnancy that could potentially be prevented or treated with knowledge gained through scientific study. Even as one of the wealthiest countries on the planet, the US ranks 55th in the world for maternal mortality—the worst of any developed nation—according to a 2020 World Health Organization (WHO) report.

In 2019, faculty members in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine sought funding for research into a variety of maternal health issues. Friends of Prentice, a longtime and steadfast philanthropic partner, answered the call and in 2020 awarded the scientists $250,000 pledged over five years.

“We believe strongly in closing this gap in women’s health. What we also believe in is supporting our physicians and scientists who are really addressing these questions,” said Kristen Field, executive director of the organization, which provides vital funds to leading scientists affiliated with Northwestern Medicine Prentice Women’s Hospital.

Friends of Prentice was established in 1985 to advance women’s health through emerging technologies and medical advancements. Since its inception, it has raised more than $25 million for Feinberg physician-scientists at the forefront of these discoveries.

The five-year pledge awarded in 2020 supports Northwestern research conducted as part of the Maternal Fetal Medicine Units (MFMU) Network, a group of 12 leading medical centers of which Feinberg has been a proud member since 2001. It is sponsored by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Through the MFMU Network, scientists from across the country work together to perform multicenter clinical trials and publish research that has defined much of the current national practice in maternal-fetal medicine. These findings are published in leading journals every year.

Dr. Yee is principal investigator of the Maternal Fetal Medicine Units Network at Northwestern. In this role, she has a pivotal seat at the table in deciding what kinds of obstetric research occurs in the US over the next decade.

Friends of Prentice’s gift has enabled several research projects, especially supporting the hiring of study staff and recruiting study participants, said Dr. Yee, who is also the Thomas J. Watkins Memorial Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

"We could not have pursued these important projects at this scale without support from Friends of Prentice,” Dr. Yee said. “Clinical trials that will truly make a difference in improving maternal and child health require a massive amount of infrastructure, which is often not covered by federal grants. Philanthropy like the support from Friends of Prentice is critical to bringing our ideas to life.”

Thanks to Friends of Prentice, investigators at Northwestern are studying the long-term effects of a COVID-19 diagnosis during pregnancy. In July 2024, they launched a study into child development after the children’s mothers received COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy. The scientists are also in the recruitment stage for research into whether the use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) for pregnant people with obstructive sleep apnea improves birth outcomes.

As with many early-stage projects given a boost through private philanthropy, Friends of Prentice’s pledge helped Feinberg scientists obtain a sizeable grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to join the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Consortium. In January 2024, the scientists formed an ECHO pregnancy cohort through which they are studying perinatal and early childhood environmental, social, medical, and other exposures’ impact on long-term maternal and child health.

Institute for Pregnancy Research

The Friends of Prentice pledge comes during an exciting period for the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Nationwide, the department is consistently ranked in the top 3 for NIH research funding and in the top 10 for medical school OBGYN programs by U.S. News and World Report. To build on its leadership position, the department plans to centralize and amplify the expertise of its faculty through the creation of an institute dedicated to pregnancy research.

The new institute will serve as a hub for bench-to-bedside-to-community maternal fetal health studies with the goal of forming a research base that addresses all stages of a person’s pregnancy, from conception through delivery and post-delivery, and in-between pregnancies. The institute will be well-equipped to cement Northwestern’s stature as a world leader in advanced care for high-risk pregnancies, thanks to its position at the nexus of the medical school and the Northwestern Medicine healthcare system.

The department has strong philanthropic momentum but requires substantial support as it vies to become a global leader by way of the new Institute for Pregnancy Research, said Serdar Bulun, MD, chair and the John J. Sciarra Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

“Our new Institute for Pregnancy Research will bring our department’s experts together in a focused effort to improve research into maternal health,” Dr. Bulun said. “Regrettably, this area has often been ignored and lacks funding in the medical research field. We are excited about what the institute can achieve and its role in addressing these gaps on a global scale.”

For more information, please contact Mary Kreller at mary.kreller@northwestern.edu or 312-503-0742.