# Eunice Kennedy Shriver NICHD Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units (MFMU) Network (UG1)

> **NIH NIH UG1** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON · 2024 · $343,200

## Abstract

Project Summary
For the last 21 years, The University of Texas-Houston (UTH) has been a vital part of the
Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units (MFMU) Network. We have always been committed to the
mission to garner unbiased data. With upward of 3.6 million annual deliveries in this country, the
need for prospectively collected data from multiple centers or randomized clinical trials (RCT)
remains of the utmost importance. The need for a research consortium of this nature has never
been more crucial; a fact made evident during our recent COVID-19 pandemic.
Because of our long history within the MFMU network, we have developed and refined the
necessary infrastructure and research skills to be successful. The UTH research team has a
combined research experience of over 80 years and abundant clinical knowledge with over 100
years of working on labor and delivery. Prioritizing participation in the Network is ingrained in
our Division. Our Chair, MFM Division Director, and Fellowship Director have all served as
Network PI and alternate PIs. Within our Division, we have a combined 40-year experience as
PI or alternate PI. Our center consistently ranks among the top sites in the percentage of
patients enrolled from the eligible pool. Currently, we recruit from 3 hospitals, with upwards of
11,000 combined births annually including over 75% from underrepresented minorities. Our
follow-up rates have consistently exceeded 90% for pre-planned long-term studies.
To further cement our value as a member of the Network, we continue to demonstrate great
academic productivity. Since 2018, we have published over 260 peer-reviewed articles,
congruent with the MFMU Network’s aims. In the last five years, UTH faculty and Fellows have
published 15 RCT, with two-thirds of the trials being multi-centered. One of these trials (Dinis J
et al. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2020) served as the basis for the recently completed Network trial—
Prescription After Cesarean Trial (PACT). Our faculty and fellows continue to be active in
proposing primary proposals to the Network and suggesting hypothesis-generating secondary
analyses from existing MFMU data. Independent of the Network, we continue to publish
secondary analyses, and our MFM Fellows and faculty are conducting several RCTs that do not
interfere with current ongoing MFMU trials.
We remain committed to the MFMU network by ensuring proper conduct of the studies,
maintaining our performance ranks in the top half in all aspects, and aiming to continually
improve the rates of eligible people randomized, follow-up, and data quality metrics.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10818519
- **Project number:** 5UG1HD040545-25
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Hector Mendez-Figueroa
- **Activity code:** UG1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $343,200
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2001-04-01 → 2030-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10818519

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10818519, Eunice Kennedy Shriver NICHD Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units (MFMU) Network (UG1) (5UG1HD040545-25). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10818519. Licensed CC0.

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