Drexel’s College of Medicine and the School of Public Health, along with East Stroudsburg University, the Health Federation of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Department of Health, Temple University and Penn, received a $4.9 million grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the “Philadelphia Collaborative Preterm Prevention Project.” The award was one of five health research grants presented by the state from its share of the national tobacco settlement. The grants will develop Centers for Excellence that conduct research to reduce disparities in lung disease or pregnancy outcomes.

The project’s goal is to reduce systemic inflammation and improve pregnancy outcomes in disadvantaged and minority women by developing a better understanding of the biological factors that contribute to preterm births, which are responsible for 70 percent of infant deaths.

Drexel faculty members involved in the project are principal investigator Dr. Jennifer Culhane, associate professor in the School of Public Health and College of Medicine, along with Drs. Marla Gold, Robert Goldenberg, Peter Katsikis, Kerry Anne McGeary, Shortie McKinney, Linda Pederson and Ronald Wapner.