2022 Danielle Peress Memorial Fund Awards
Pictured above (left to right): Drs. Emily Holthaus, Natasha Kumar, and Brock Polnaszek have been selected as the recipients of the 2022 Danielle Peress, MD Memorial Fund Award.
The Danielle Peress, MD Memorial Fund was established in 2018 in memory of Dani Peress, MD, who envisioned supporting MFM fellows in their clinical or translational research endeavors. Learn more about the Danielle Peress, MD Memorial Fund Award here.
Emily Holthaus, MD, a second-year maternal-fetal medicine fellow at Loyola University Medical Center in Illinois, will conduct a project, “Impact of maternal obesity on neonatal endothelial dysfunction: Use of a novel biomarker in umbilical artery cord blood.”
Maternal obesity in pregnancy is increasing in prevalence and is associated with downstream disease in offspring, including pediatric obesity and childhood insulin resistance. The goals of Dr. Holthaus’ study are to compare umbilical artery endocan levels in term neonates born to obese mothers vs. non-obese mothers and to compare umbilical artery endocan levels in term neonates born to mothers with insulin-dependent diabetes vs. those born to mothers without diabetes.
Natasha Kumar, MD, a first-year maternal-fetal medicine fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, will conduct a project, “Developing a Patient-Centered Checklist for Care Navigation in Treatment of Antepartum Anemia.”
Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is the leading cause of anemia in pregnancy, affecting around 18% of pregnancies in the United States. Anemia during pregnancy has been associated with higher rates of prolonged hospitalizations, transfusion, maternal ICU admission, and Cesarean delivery. Treating IDA effectively antepartum can potentially reduce associated maternal morbidity. Drawing from prior work in breast cancer care, Dr. Kumar’s goal is to develop a patient-centered checklist that promotes patient education and empowerment to improve engagement with care for patients with antepartum anemia.
Brock Polnaszek, MD, a first-year maternal-fetal medicine fellow at Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in Rhode Island, will conduct a project, “Amnioinfusion for Intrauterine Neuroprotection: A Pilot Randomized Trial.”
Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) occurs in 2-9 per 1,000 births, and 60% of neonates diagnosed with HIE will die or survive with long-term morbidity. HIE is associated with intrapartum risk factors such as abnormal fetal heart tracings, chorioamnionitis, and maternal fever. Amnioinfusion, the administration of fluid via an intrauterine catheter inserted through the cervix, is an established intervention during labor to improve fetal heart rate tracings and reduce cesarean delivery. Dr. Polnaszek aims to expand the indication for amnioinfusion as a novel approach to reduce tissue injury, including HIE.
