Pete Mendoza
The UTRGV School of Medicine received a $2.3 million grant to create the first-of-its-kind Maternal Health Research Center in the Rio Grande Valley.
School of Medicine Associate Professor and principal investigator for the grant Candace Robledo will be the new director of the Maternal Health Research Center.
Robledo said the funding will help to conduct the research required and further assist other community organizations.
“This was an opportunity for us to apply for funding that would help us build capacity to conduct maternal health research in our region,” she said. “We engage with community organizations that provide services to women who are pregnant or who have recently delivered and also with community members that are pregnant and have delivered within the last 12 months.”
Robledo said the research will go through another branch called dissemination and implementation science, which will help translate the discoveries and create interventions and programs to address the issues found.
She said the research center will be looking for additional funding to further its studies within five years of its establishment.
“Another important maternal health topic that we will be addressing as a center is the rising maternal morbidity and mortality rates in the state of Texas, specifically as it pertains to Hispanic women,” Robledo said.
She said the research center will be located within the School of Medicine and will be in partnership with the division of Population Health in Biostatistics and Community medicine.
According to Robledo, the four institutes that gained funding for maternal health centers in Texas are each located in minority-serving institutions because maternal mortality and morbidity is a major problem in women of color.
She said the center will be expanding its research through certain organizations.
“We’re just going to be expanding some of our work out into the community,” Robledo said. “We’ll be partnering with the South Texas Promotores association and leveraging some of their community sites to do our work.”
Robledo said helping expecting mothers early in their pregnancy may help prevent further mental health problems.
“If we can address mom’s mental health, [then] her outcomes are better over the long run, but so are the health outcomes for her baby,” she said. “Because [moms are] such an integral member of the family unit, it really affects her family, too.”
For more information about maternal health visit, utrgv.edu/school-of-medicine.
This is Pete Mendoza for Vaquero Radio.
