Precision medicine, artificial intelligence, electronic health records, and other advances have revolutionized our ability to conduct medical research -- yet the United States still has the highest rate of maternal mortality in the developed world, and that rate has only continued to grow. Why? Most research studies are conducted in small populations, with only one timepoint, and often don’t link outcomes for birthing parents and their infants. This is a particular problem for complications of pregnancy that may result in adverse outcomes for both parent and child, and for rare disorders.
The Perinatal Intergenerational Research Institute (PIRI), founded in 2023, was designed precisely to fill this gap. PIRI provides a hub for maternal and infant research by collecting a rich group of faculty from obstetrics, pediatrics, psychiatry, and basic sciences who work together collaboratively to design, conduct, share, and disseminate cutting-edge research about pregnancy, birth, and postpartum and neonatal health. PIRI hosts an ongoing research seminar for members and hosts faculty visits and seminars. It provides critical resources for clinical practice improvements and a training ground for the next generation of parent-infant researchers.
PIRI’s largest project is the creation of a data and biorepository linking both clinical data and biological samples from birthing parents and their infants. The main goal of the PIRI biorepository is to identify factors present in pregnancy that may predict health risks for both birthing parents and children. We will collect a large number of samples and de-identified electronic medical record data over time from birthing parents and their infants to better understand what factors affect the health of both generations.
