The Blavatnik Family Women’s Health Research Institute similarly began to focus on how the pandemic has affected women’s health, on both the side of the patient and the health care provider. And on April 12, 2021, on the one-year anniversary of the peak, the Institute’s faculty members shared their research findings thus far.
Moderated by the Institute’s Associate Director Teresa Janevic, MD, MPH, the COVID-19 Research Roundtable provided members of the Institute space to share their ongoing work. The event comprised two sections: The Women’s Health Worker, and The Women’s Health Patient.
Caitlin Carr, MD
The Women’s Health Worker panel included Caitlin Carr, MD, a fellow in the Gynecological Oncology program, who discussed her study that focused on mental health among gynecological oncology providers during the pandemic, research that she also presented at the SGO 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancers. Her key findings in the gynecological oncology workforce helps to demonstrate that health care worker well-being and mental health during the pandemic is extremely relevant and provides key insight into the improvements and reforms that may be required in a hospital system.
Nina Molenaar, MD, PhD
In the Women’s Health Patient panel, Nina Molenaar, MD, PhD, began by outlining her work in the Generation-C study, which measures perinatal outcomes for women who have COVID-19 while pregnant. Current literature demonstrates that SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy is associated with, among other things, increased risk of preterm birth and C-Section.
The Generation-C study uses serological tests to measure IgG antibody levels of pregnant women receiving obstetrical care in the Mount Sinai Health System and aims to analyze the correlation between seropositivity and pregnancy outcomes such as preterm birth, small or large for gestational age, NICU admission, and APGAR score. This ongoing prospective cohort study is expanding our understanding of the effects of COVID-19 infection during pregnancy.
Sheela Maru, MD, MPH
Next, Sheela Maru, MD, MPH, shared her findings within the CoronaVirus Impact on Birth Equity (VIBE) Study, which examines the birth experiences and discrimination that birthing people have felt during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how those experiences and exposures may have had an impact on postpartum health.
This study, which uses a cross-sectional web-based survey, examines patients across Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai West, Elmhurst Hospital Center and Queens Hospital Center, to understand the satisfaction of women who gave birth during the peak of the pandemic, and how this may differ across race and ethnicity. The VIBE study provides opportunities for interventions to address racism, improve birth satisfaction, and promote positive postpartum health outcomes.
The final presentation of the roundtable was led by Kimberly Glazer, PhD, MPH, who discussed the BFWHRI COVID-19 Perinatal Quality Database, an ongoing effort by the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in collaboration with the Institute to streamline the process of using Electronic Medical Record (EMR) data for in-depth monitoring and evaluation of obstetric quality during the pandemic.
Kimberly Glazer, PhD, MPH
Dr. Glazer discussed how this database of electronic medical records, while designed to produce internal quality reports, also serves as a tool to improve the performance of EMR data in reporting and research. The utility of this approach was demonstrated in the recent Jama Network Open article by Glazer, Janevic, and other BFWHRI faculty members, which used electronic medical records obtained from two hospitals in New York City to determine if racial/ethnic disparities in very preterm birth (VPTB) and preterm birth (PTB) increased during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City.
The Research Roundtable was a success, drawing on an audience across the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Population Health Science and Policy, and Blavatnik Family Women’s Health Research Institute members. The roundtable was not only a demonstration of the abundance of academic knowledge that Institute researchers have worked to discover, in just a little over a year, about COVID-19 and its impacts, but also an illustration of our scientists, clinicians, and researchers’ abilities to persevere.
During the peak of the pandemic in New York City, the core research team within the Institute continued to meet virtually to discuss various research projects, and quickly mobilized to produce meaningful research investigating the pandemic and its effects on women’s health. BFWHRI researchers have exhibited tremendous productivity and resiliency while navigating work-from-home orders and remaining healthy and safe during these unprecedented times.
The known gender gap in academia means that female academics, particularly those who have children, which represents the vast majority of the Institute’s faculty, report a disproportionate reduction in time dedicated to research relative to what comparable men and women without children experience. And so the COVID-19 Research Roundtable was not only a time to share outstanding research findings and discuss key next steps, but also served as a brief moment of reflection, to appreciate the efforts and challenges overcome thus far, and celebrate a team of outstanding women who have been committed to maternal and infant health equity research throughout the pandemic.
Mahima Krishnamoorthi, BA, is the Clinical Research Coordinator at the Blavatnik Family Women’s Health Research Institute, where she develops and fosters her passion for maternal and infant health equity and reproductive justice. She will be attending Johns Hopkins School of Medicine beginning in August 2021.