# Together: Transforming and Translating Discovery to Improve Health

> **NIH NIH UL1** · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA · 2020 · $228,576

## Abstract

In Florida, drug-related death was the leading cause of pregnancy-associated death (PAD) in 2017, 
accounting for one in four deaths. In order to reduce PAD, it is important to identify women at 
greatest risk of PAD itself and its leading causes, including substance use disorder and associated 
mental health conditions (e.g., postpartum anxiety and depression).
Florida provides a unique opportunity to examine the feasibility of screening tools for PAD and 
severe maternal morbidity (SMM), as it is the only state that currently requires universal 
screening of all pregnant women and infants. The Healthy Start (HS) Risk Screen, administered 
prenatally and at birth, identifies those at highest risk of preterm birth, low birth weight, 
adverse health outcomes, and infant mortality. The screening questions focus on sociocultural 
issues, reflecting aspects of health disparities and adversity that affect pregnancy, health, and 
infant development. These HS Risk Screens, either in their current form or enhanced to include 
other individual or environmental factors, may also be useful in identifying women at high risk of 
PAD and SMM.
The goal of this study is to utilize the HS Risk Screens, along with other readily available data 
on individual and environmental factors, to examine the ability to identify women at risk of PAD 
and SMM, particularly related to postpartum anxiety, depression, and substance use disorder. We 
will use available linked statewide administrative data as well as leverage ongoing efforts to link 
these administrative datasets to the OneFlorida Data Trust, a central data repository that hosts 
electronic health records (EHR) and geospatial information for over 15 million patients across 
Florida. We will work closely with key stakeholders, including obstetric providers, the association 
of Healthy Start coalitions across Florida, and pregnant women, to determine the feasibility of 
prenatal screening for PAD and/or substance-use related SMM. Knowledge gained from this study will 
inform the feasibility of PAD and/or SMM screening at a large scale amongst diverse populations.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10198171
- **Project number:** 3UL1TR001427-06S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
- **Principal Investigator:** Kelly K. Gurka
- **Activity code:** UL1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $228,576
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2021-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10198171

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10198171, Together: Transforming and Translating Discovery to Improve Health (3UL1TR001427-06S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10198171. Licensed CC0.

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