HER Foundation's Dr. Marlena Fejzo Was Named to TIME's Annual Women of the Year List, Recognizing Extraordinary Leaders Fighting for a More Equal World

PORTLAND, Ore., March 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- TIME named Dr. Marlena Fejzo to its annual TIME Women of the Year list, recognizing extraordinary leaders fighting for a more equal world. The full list of 12 honorees and related tributes appear in the March 11, 2024 issue of TIME, available on newsstands on Friday, March 1, and now at time.com/woty.

"I am truly honored to be recognized for my research on hyperemesis gravidarum (HG). After tragically losing my baby in the second trimester to HG, I devoted my life to researching the cause, and am very excited about this next chapter focused on new methods to prevent and treat HG," says Dr. Marlena Fejzo.

Dr. Marlena Fejzo works in the Center for Genetic Epidemiology at the University of Southern California and is the Research Director and a Board Member for the Hyperemesis Education and Research (HER) Foundation (HERfoundation.org). In 2018, Dr. Fejzo's team published a study in Nature Communications identifying variants in the gene, GDF15, are associated with nausea and vomiting in pregnancy and its severe form, Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG), establishing the first connection between the placenta and appetite hormone, GDF15, and nausea and vomiting of pregnancy. This created a paradigm shift in understanding the cause of HG, and was followed by her team's 2022 publication in BJOG identifying a rare mutation in GDF15 that increased HG risk over 10-fold, further solidifying a causal role for GDF15. In December 2023, Dr. Fejzo and an international team of scientists published in Nature showing how genetic changes in GDF15 influence the severity of the condition. This brings us closer to developing much-needed methods for prevention and treatment of HG. Dr. Fejzo will be presenting her research at the International Colloquium on Hyperemesis Gravidarum in Ventura (LA), California on November 6-7, 2024. Fejzo's progress is due in part to her long-standing partnership with HER. You can support her important work here.

Kimber MacGibbon, HER Executive Director and Co-Founder, has been a nurse for over 30 years and states, "Now we understand why these mothers struggle to tolerate food and even water. They require compassionate care to survive pregnancy but too often are dismissed and experience complications such as fetal loss, preeclampsia, preterm birth, and PTSD." HER Foundation offers innovative clinical resources that improve the care and outcomes of those suffering from HG. (herfoundation.org). These resources are being utilized with excellent results in hospitals and clinics like the Morning Sickness and HG Clinic in Birmingham, AL, and will be used in Harmonia Healthcare HG infusion clinics opening soon in NJ and NYC.

About the HER Foundation 
The Hyperemesis Education and Research (HER) Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that provides support, research, advocacy, and education on hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), a debilitating disease of pregnancy causing malnutrition and dehydration. Since 2000, HER has been the leading source of information and research on HG and helped over 2,500,000 people across the globe.

Media Contact:
Kimber MacGibbon, Executive Director
888-264-2914
[email protected]
10117 SE Sunnyside Rd, Suite F8
Clackamas, OR 97015 USA

SOURCE HER Foundation