Maternal-Fetal Medicine teams represent at April charity races and walks

The Maternal-Fetal Medicine division of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at CUIMC enjoyed the spring weather at two charity race/walks this month. The Mothers Center organized a group to run the SHAPE Half Marathon with the larger team from NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and the Preterm Birth Prevention Center once again walked with the March of Dimes March for Babies in Manhattan and Westchester.

The SHAPE Women's Half Marathon took place in Central Park on April 15, 2018. The seven members of the Mothers Center team (Dr. Kirsten Lawrence Cleary, Dr. Anne Davis, Dr. Chia-Ling Nhan-Chang, Dr. Mirella Mourad, Dr. Whitney Booker, Dr. Jess Spiegelman, and sonographer Jess Paoli) were among 6,100 women who ran the SHAPE Women's Half Marathon. Now in its 15th year, the race aims to empower women of all ages and abilties by promoting sisterhood among women and runners.

In their second year participating in the March for Babies, the Preterm Birth Prevention Center saw a great deal of enthusiasm across the entire Ob/Gyn department. Around 70 people (and pups) registered and participated in the Manhattan and Scarsdales marches, which both took place on April 30. The Manhattan team was organized by Joy Y. Vink, MD, and Cynthia Gyamfi-Bannerman, MD, MSc, Co-Directors of the Preterm Birth Prevention Center, and the Scarsdale march was led by Dr. Anna Burgansky.

"The physicians and researchers in Preterm Birth Prevention Center are dedicated to decreasing the rate of preterm birth by employing the best clinical practices to make sure our patients get the most effective and evidence-based treatment that is currently available," said Dr. Vink. "We also are performing cutting-edge research to understand the mechanisms behind why patients deliver early and it is our goal to discover novel, safe, and more effective therapies to prevent preterm birth. The March of Dimes has and continues to support our research efforts at the Preterm Birth Prevention Center and we're happy to show our appreciation for their continued support by participating in the March for Babies."