Advancing Precision Pharmacology for Maternal and Child Health

In the past few decades, enormous progress has been made in our knowledge of basic, translational and clinical pharmacology in healthy and diseased adult populations. In marked contrast, few studies have focused on basic, translational, and clinical pharmacology in pediatric populations and in pregnant and lactating mothers. The primary goal of the proposed five-year series of symposia is to identify and address critical gaps in our understanding of drug safety, efficacy and individual therapy for pregnant women, fetuses and children. Our secondary goal is to foster collaborations in pediatric pharmacology and women’s health primarily during pregnancy and lactation. Multi-disciplinary researchers across a range of topics throughout the maternal-child health continuum will be invited to give presentations. The conference will feature interactive panel and roundtable discussions to facilitate audience participation, and include a poster session. This unique conference will bring together for the first time national and international researchers who are working in these highly understudied areas of pharmacology. The specific objectives of our proposed symposium are to: (1) Advance translational pharmacological research in pregnant and lactating women as well as in children across the developmental stages; (2) Promote and support implementation science in pediatric pharmacology through discussions ranging from pharmacokinetic sampling methods, pediatric clinical trials, and translating pharmacologic evidence into clinical guidelines and practice; and (3) Foster synergy between U.S. and international teaching and research ecosystems, emphasizing competency-based, practice ready and inclusive education frameworks. Through scientific discourse and networking, this unique, first of a kind, two-day conference will be held at the University of California, San Francisco in the first year. In subsequent years, the conference will be held at other sites and will provide an in-depth examination of critical topics in child and maternal pharmacology. Through scientific exchange, the conference will provide a blueprint for research, education and implantation sciences to enhance the discovery, development and therapeutic use of medications in these highly understudied populations. Project Number: 1R13HD122340-01 | Fiscal Year: 2026 | NIH Institute/Center: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) | Principal Investigator: KATHLEEN GIACOMINI (+2 co-PIs) | Institution: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, SAN FRANCISCO, CA | Award Amount: $20,000 | Activity Code: R13 | Study Section: Special Emphasis Panel[ZRG1 SCIL-T (80)] View on NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11386605