March of Dimes announces two winners of the 2025 Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Research Awards

ARLINGTON, Va., Dec. 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- March of Dimes, the national leader in maternal and infant health research, today announced the winners of the 2025 Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Research Awards, which recognize exceptional early-career scientists advancing maternal and infant health.

Awards of $150,000 each were presented to Dr. Christina Megli, MD, PhD, a high-risk obstetrician and assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and Dr. Sarah Morton, MD, PhD, a neonatologist and assistant professor at Boston Children's Hospital.

Dr. Megli's grant will support research on the role of macrophage cells, known as "first responder" immune cells, in reducing inflammation and infection in the amniotic sac, whose early rupture is a crucial step toward preterm birth. Her team recently reported that macrophages are active in the amniotic sac and may help protect it by temporarily blocking bacterial entry. Now, Dr. Megli will grow amniotic sac cell types containing macrophages, expose them to bacteria, and study macrophage defense behavior. Her goals are to learn where these cells originate, what triggers their movement to the amniotic sac, and how infection alters their response. Ultimately, she aims to strengthen these defenses to reduce inflammation and prevent preterm birth, and to evaluate macrophage activity in the amniotic sac as a potential biomarker of preterm birth risk.

Dr. Morton's research will probe how supplemental prenatal progesterone works with the placenta to grow higher birth weight babies in utero, which could help babies with congenital heart defects better handle medical procedures after birth. Under the grant, Dr. Morton will analyze data and samples from a previous study showing increased birth weights in babies with the heart condition born to women who took vaginal progesterone during pregnancy. She will 1) identify which placental cells changed most after progesterone and which cell changes were associated with improved fetal growth, 2) examine whether genetic variants linked to progesterone sensitivity or resistance affect treatment response, and 3) test whether benefits of progesterone on the placenta depend on genetic variants associated with preterm birth risk. The aim is to define the cellular and molecular basis of the progesterone–placenta relationship to inform screening of new compounds that could match or exceed progesterone in increasing birth weight and preventing preterm birth.

"Some of the most consequential maternal and infant health scientists, academics, and doctors started out as Basil O'Connor awardees, using this grant as a springboard to scientific achievement that has fundamentally transformed pregnancy and birth, and that legacy continues with this year's awardees," said Dr. Emre Seli, MD, Chief Scientific Advisor at March of Dimes. "Both Dr. Megli and Dr. Morton's research open new paths to diagnostic tests and treatments for people at risk of preterm birth. Dr. Megli's work in the understudied fetal membranes could enable biomarkers and therapeutics to prevent preterm birth, and Dr. Morton's study of progesterone and the placenta can clarify when and how the hormone is effective and lay the groundwork for next generation therapies."

Named for the first March of Dimes chairman and president, the Basil O'Connor awards are part of March of Dimes' research strategy to address the multifaceted nature of the maternal and infant health crisis with funding that supports discovery, translational and social science research, and data collection and analysis by early-career investigators.

Find more information about the Basil O'Connor Awards here.

About March of Dimes
March of Dimes leads the fight for the health of all moms and babies. We support research, education, and advocacy, and provide programs and services so that every family can have the best possible start. Since 1938, we've built a successful legacy to support every pregnant person and every family. Visit marchofdimes.org or nacersano.org for more information. Find us on Facebook and follow us with #marchofdimes and @marchofdimes.

SOURCE March of Dimes