The first long-term study in Mississippi of potential links between preeclampsia in pregnant women and serious health issues for their babies later in life begins in earnest in 2026.
Researchers at the University of Mississippi Medical Center were awarded a $7.4 million Specialized Centers of Research Excellence grant from the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Research on Women’s Health to study the condition in women in metro Jackson and, eventually, across the state.
“The grant will study how inflammatory factors in women who have preeclampsia lead to hypertension for the mothers during pregnancy and then contribute to the long-term cardiovascular and neurovascular dysfunction these women seem to have earlier in life compared to those that had uncomplicated pregnancy,” said Dr. Babette LaMarca, chair of pharmacology and toxicology at UMMC and director of the study. “The study will compare those pregnancies with women who have normal pregnancies.”…