# Boston University/Lata Medical Research Foundation and Indira Gandhi Government Medical Center Global Network for Women's Children's Health Research Unit

> **NIH NIH UG1** · BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS · 2020 · $615,978

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The Global Network (GN) Research Unit (RU) of Boston University and the Indira Gandhi Government Medical
College (IGGMC)/Lata Medical Research Foundation (LMRF) in Nagpur, India are applying to the re-
competition of NICHD’s Global Network of Women and Children’s Health Research to continue their
participation in GN research mission. Since the Nagpur-based RU in the eastern part of the Indian state of
Maharashtra has neonatal and infant mortality rates that are higher than overall rates in India, there is an
important need to improve health outcomes of mothers and their infants in the RU catchment area. The RU
has extensive experience in leading and conducting international multicenter collaborative clinical trials and
implementation science research dedicated to generating evidence on the best ways to improve maternal and
child health in its population in need. Additional strengths of the RU include its ability to recruit >10,000
pregnant women/year into GN studies with > 99% retention rates, and mentoring of junior investigators.
The goals of the Nagpur RU over the next five years are twofold. The first goal is to continue to participate in
multicenter, high impact, cost-effective, large scale clinical studies in populations of women and children that
have the highest burden of death and disability globally. The second goal is to augment the mentoring of junior
researchers to improve their research capacity and publication records and to support their ability to
successfully compete for grants to study important public health interventions. The specific aims of the RU are
to: (1) develop strategies to continue the growth and development of the Nagpur RU and to sustain the
research infrastructure that supports the design and conduct of public health research in the Nagpur academic
institutions; (2) strengthen research focused on the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in pregnancy and
early childhood in the GN and in the Nagpur area; (3) provide support to the GN to continue to identify and
address gaps in maternal and child research.
The Nagpur RU proposes to achieve their goals and specific aims by continuing to collaborate with the GN in
conducting scientifically justified and rigorously designed common protocols targeting key gaps in knowledge,
relating to improving health outcomes in mothers and their infants in resource-limited settings. The Nagpur RU
will continue to contribute scientific expertise to the GN, particularly in areas of specific strength in the Nagpur
RU, including pediatrics, neonatology, infectious diseases, (childhood pneumonia/neonatal sepsis/diarrhea),
environmental exposures, particularly household air pollution, nutrition/malnutrition, obstetrics and testing of
novel mHealth interventions for point-of-care diagnosis of obstetric and pediatric morbidity and complications.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9950865
- **Project number:** 5UG1HD078439-09
- **Recipient organization:** BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS
- **Principal Investigator:** Patricia L Hibberd
- **Activity code:** UG1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $615,978
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2013-06-03 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9950865

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9950865, Boston University/Lata Medical Research Foundation and Indira Gandhi Government Medical Center Global Network for Women's Children's Health Research Unit (5UG1HD078439-09). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9950865. Licensed CC0.

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