One of the most notable successes of the California Preterm Birth Initiative (PTBi) has been providing seed funding for pilot research that may not have happened without our support. These pilot studies test the practicality of a given research idea and generate preliminary data to support future proposals with larger funding bodies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other foundations.
The Center for Birth Justice (CBJ), within which PTBi will be housed, ensures the research is community-aligned and supported. We look forward to continuing this initiative under CBJ to empower the next generation of community and academic scholars.
Community at the Center: Community engagement is the key distinguishing component of the CBJ-funded grants and has people with lived experience at its core. Alongside faculty and staff, community members review and score funding proposals and offer insight into the research process. CBJ’s CAB consists of people with lived experience from San Francisco, Oakland, and Fresno, including mothers who had preterm births. Also, CBJ requires grantees to engage community members, not just as subjects but as advisors and collaborators.
This process for making funding decisions ensures that the seeded research is relevant to the communities most impacted.
The Research Focus: One out of every ten births in the U.S. will be preterm (before 37 weeks). Being born early is a leading cause of chronic health conditions like developmental, vision, lung, and hearing difficulties.
Preterm birth rates for white individuals with private health insurance are 5.8%, but for
Black individuals with public health insurance, it is 11.3%. Black infants are more than twice as likely to die before their first birthday compared to white infants, and Black women are more than twice as likely to die during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum than white women.
Our grants support transdisciplinary projects that explore complex factors influencing preterm birth and maternal complications, from biological drivers and environmental exposures to social determinants, stress, and interventions across the reproductive life course. By emphasizing research for the most vulnerable groups, this research drives medical and public health innovations that benefit everyone.
These grants help launch research and careers.
By backing this initiative, you can help advance crucial projects that might otherwise struggle to secure funding, ensuring continuity in maternal health research and preparing for future funding opportunities. This support sustains vital research, significantly altering the landscape of maternal health and driving meaningful change.
Supporting the CBJ RAP grants is an investment in transformative community-partnered research focused on preterm birth, a critical issue that affects countless families. These grants generate essential preliminary data, inform larger studies and policies, foster community building for the next generation of researchers, and enhance health outcomes through a lens of health equity and community partnership.
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