Each year, the USF Women’s Health Collaborative fuels innovative interdisciplinary research by awarding seed grants to faculty teams focused on advancing women’s health. This year, two researchers from the USF Health College of Nursing, Dr. Catherine Nadeau and Dr. Ryan Pace, are on teams that have been selected for the Judy Genshaft Women’s Health Collaborative Award for their innovative studies that address critical health issues impacting mothers and infants.
Dr. Catherine Nadeau creates a heart with a stethoscope.
Nadeau’s team, comprised of Dr. Daniela Crousillat and Dr. Ashley Mary Cain from the Morsani College of Medicine, and Dr. Jason Salemi and Dr. Jean Paul Tanner from the College of Public Health, centers their research on assessing the cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in women during their reproductive years, specifically exploring hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. CVD accounts for over one-third of pregnancy related deaths, and for those that survive, can have lasting effects on a women’s cardiovascular health. Recognizing that more than 80% of these deaths are preventable, Nadeau and her team emphasize the need for targeted interventions and aims to enhance postpartum care and assist in an active transition into primary care.
“Few clinics in the U.S. provide extended postpartum care,” says Nadeau. “Our clinic bridges this gap by assessing women for a longer period of time during what we call the “4th trimester’. In addition to standard postpartum care, we aim to provide CV risk assessment and risk mitigation strategies, all while empowering women with the knowledge they need to advocate for themselves throughout their lifetime.”
At three months postpartum, Nadeau and her team collect labs to help stratify a women’s CVD risk and inform women about their current, traditional and pregnancy-related CV risk factors. Armed with this information, they discuss risk mitigation strategies and highlight the importance of transitioning to primary care where primary care providers continue to manage and monitor their risk for CVD and other chronic conditions.
While Dr. Nadeau’s work targets essential health issues for mothers during pregnancy and the postpartum period, Pace’s research team addresses the crucial aspects of infant health. Pace is exploring how early nutritional factors, like breastfeeding, impact preterm infants.
Dr. Ryan Pace reviews data in his office.
“The first 1000 days of life is a critical time of development for us and our microbiomes, with alterations in it linked to many adverse health outcomes, including metabolic diseases and allergies,” says Pace. “I am particularly interested in understanding how breastfeeding plays a role in promoting the health and well-being of mothers and infants, and their microbiomes.”
In collaboration with Dr. Thao (Tina) Ho from the Morsani College of Medicine and Dr. Elizabeth Miller from the Department of Anthropology, Pace is researching how breastmilk plays a role in anemia, a complication that occurs in up to 70% of preterm infants. It is associated with an increased risk of many unfavorable outcomes, including poor growth, and infections.
The grant funding will enable Pace and Nadeau’s teams to make impactful contributions to the field, paving the way for better health outcomes and inspiring future research endeavors.