For immediate release: February 13, 2007
Contact: Emily Wofford Cobb
Public Relations Manager
775-784-6006
ewofford@unr.edu
One of eight national studies chosen for work to predict and prevent preterm birth
RENO, Nev.—Prematurity and low birth weight are the leading causes of death in the first month of life. In an average week in Nevada more than 90 babies are born prematurely. Nationally, each year more than half a million babies are born preterm.
These overwhelming numbers not only take a huge emotional toll on families, but the monetary costs associated with preterm birth are staggering as well. According to the Institute of Medicine, in 2005 the annual societal economic cost associated with preterm birth in the United States was at least $26.2 billion. While there are several factors that can help predict the risk of preterm birth, there is no known cause for half the cases of premature birth.
In an effort to reverse these startling statistics, the March of Dimes has awarded Iain Buxton, Pharm.D., professor of pharmacology at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, a more than $300,000 grant to predict and prevent preterm birth. Buxton has dedicated his life’s work to researching the cause of unexplained premature delivery. He is one of only eight U.S. scientists and the only Nevadan to receive the competitive Prematurity Research Initiative (PRI) grant from the March of Dimes. The PRI grants are awarded to scientists who conduct innovative research to predict and prevent premature birth.
Buxton’s study focuses on whether and how certain abnormalities of potassium balance in uterine muscle cells may lead to preterm contractions and delivery. The award is based on a discovery made in Buxton’s laboratory of a gene that was not previously known to be expressed in the uterus. His study proposes to determine if alterations in the gene are responsible for premature birth in otherwise unexplained cases. Preliminary data for the study suggest that the gene is normally regulated by pregnancy and that genetic alterations in the gene might explain recurrence of preterm labor and pregnancy.
“Premature delivery is a devastating problem that takes its toll both in lives and dollars,” says Buxton. “I hope our research will contribute to an understanding of the onset of labor in order to eliminate the problem of premature delivery.”
The PRI grant is awarded for a three-year period beginning March 1. Over that period, Buxton will receive more than $300,000 from the March of Dimes to fund the study.
“We are incredibly proud to have a local grant recipient at the University of Nevada School of Medicine,” says Priscilla Tran, community director for the March of Dimes Northern Nevada Division. “We applaud Dr. Buxton’s work to determine the cause and prevent preterm birth.”
As the state’s only public medical school, the University of Nevada School of Medicine has been meeting statewide healthcare, educational, and clinical needs since 1969. The School of Medicine encompasses 16 clinical medical education departments, including Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Internal Medicine, Surgery, and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, as well as ten nationally-recognized departments within basic science including microbiology and biomedical engineering. As the largest multi-specialty healthcare focus within the state, the School of Medicine employs more than 185 doctors who both teach and practice medicine throughout Nevada. The school’s statewide faculty physician practice group has a combined 25 different medical specialties with seven physician practice offices located in the Reno-Sparks area and five physician offices located in Las Vegas.
The University of Nevada School of Medicine utilizes a best-practice approach to medicine and is committed to addressing the health needs of Nevada now and in the future. For more information, please visit www.medicine.nevada.edu.
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