The Yale Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Promotion (MNCHP) Training Program

/ABSTRACT Maternal mortality has been steadily increasing, especially among underrepresented groups including Black women, making it a top priority for the US government. Earmarked NIH funding has created valuable opportunities for maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) researchers to tackle critical questions and implement interventions to strengthen MCNH outcomes. Yet, implementing and scaling up evidence-based maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) programs with fidelity and sustainability requires intensive multidisciplinary training in implementation science, along with qualitative, quantitative, and mixed research methods. A critical gap impeding further growth is the lack of rigorous training opportunities for young investigators. Hence, the primary goal of this proposed program is to launch the first T32 program dedicated to training pre-doctoral students and post-doctoral research fellows on the co-design, implementation, evaluation and scale up of effective MNCH interventions from pregnancy through adolescence, with special focus on the first 2000 days of life. This program will be guided by the principles of fidelity to community needs and wants, equity, and dignity (FED). We seek applications from PhDs and predoctoral candidates from a wide range of clinical and scientific disciplines and diverse personal backgrounds. The proposed program will take full advantage of the outstanding resources of the Yale School of Public Health. The program's aims are to: [1] Develop emerging scholars' cohorts with strong leadership and research skills necessary for advancing the field of MNCH; [2] Develop MNCH focused implementation scientists that have the knowledge and skills to become independent investigators and that adhere to the FED principles in their work; [3] Enhance the diversity of MNCH implementation science researchers. Three distinguishing characteristics of this program are: (1) emerging dissemination and implementation scientists will be cross trained in core areas critical to MNCH implementation science including mixed-methods, maternal and child health epidemiology, nutrition, and policy, as well as community engaged research; (2) the FED principles will be integrated into all training aspects; (3) Mentors and resources represent an extraordinary breadth of disciplines from a wide array of schools at Yale, including Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing, with expertise in MNCH epidemiology, program, and policy; implementation science; mixed-methods; and health equity. Didactic components leverage MNCH promotion coursework in a PhD academic pathway developed by PI Pérez-Escamilla and mentor Spiegelman. A research internship will offer close mentorship from senior Yale Faculty experts in MNCH promotion. Innovative skills development workshops will be offered. Trainee's progress will be rigorously monitored and evaluated by the Program Director and mentors, with strong support from the experienced Advisory Committee. Project Number: 1T32HD114555-01A1 | Fiscal Year: 2025 | NIH Institute/Center: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) | Principal Investigator: Rafael Perez-Escamilla | Institution: YALE UNIVERSITY, NEW HAVEN, CT | Award Amount: $266,945 | Activity Code: T32 | Study Section: Special Emphasis Panel[ZHD1 DSR-R (90)] View on NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/1T32HD11455501A1