March of Dimes project in 3 Ohio cities examines causes of premature births

5/21/2013

COLUMBUS — The March of Dimes is spending $10 million in Ohio for collaborative research into the problem of babies being born prematurely.

The project will draw on the expertise of world-class hospitals in Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati to try to explain why babies come too soon and to find ways to use that information to predict and prevent prematurity.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that participating universities and hospitals will turn to a diverse group of researchers, including evolutionary biologists, mathematicians, sociologists, psychologists and biomedical engineers.

One in nine children born in the U.S. arrives before 37 weeks of gestation. In Ohio, it’s one in eight, or more than 15,000 babies every year. Care for these children can cost millions of dollars, and surviving babies can have serious health problems.