Genomic and Proteomic Network for Preterm Research
Preterm birth is defined as birth less than 37 weeks of pregnancy. Approximately 50% of preterm births occur spontaneously following the premature onset of labor, while 40% are medically- induced deliveries due to medical conditions endangering the mother and/or fetus and 10% of preterm births are associated with the premature rupture of fetal membranes leading to either a spontaneously or medically-induced delivery. Preterm birth is a serious health problem often under appreciated with respect to its human and financial toll. Approximately 12% of all babies are born premature with 2% of all babies being born very premature. These very premature babies are associated with the highest mortality and morbidity rates. Ten percent of these babies will die. Fifteen percent of these babies with have serious permanent disabilities such as cerebral palsy, mental retardation, deafness or blindness. Fifty percent of these infants will have a moderate learning disability and 7% with have a behavioral problem. Besides its human toll, the financial toll for total hospital stays for preterm births is about $15 billion dollars per year and represents approximately half of all infant hospital stays. Furthermore, the human and economic burden does not end after hospital discharge for those with a disability. Thus, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) established a specific research network in 2005 to address this important problem. This network is called the Genomic and Proteomic Network on Preterm Birth Research (GPN/PBR) and is funded through 2011.
The main objective of the GPN/PBR is to concentrate on the most common form of preterm birth (spontaneous preterm delivery following the premature onset of labor) at a stage of pregnancy (delivery at less than 34 weeks) that is associated with the highest mortality and morbidity rates for the infant. The major aims of the network are to accelerate the pace of preterm birth research by focusing on global genomic and molecular research strategies and to rapidly dissemination the data to the scientific community for secondary analyses. The network projects consist of three collaborative core components: the clinical core, comprising three clinical sites, which is responsible for subject recruitment and specimen collection; the analytical core, which is responsible for genomic and proteomic analyses; and the data management, statistics, and informatics core, which is responsible for central data collection, analysis, and management; information technology; and coordination of the administrative activities of the network.
The cores consist of the following institutes with oversight provided by the NICHD:
- Clinical Core- University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, and the University of Utah.
- Analytical Core- University of Pennsylvania
- Data Management & Statistics and Informatics Core- Yale University
