The Maternal and Child Health Workforce: A Snapshot of Current and Future Needs From Public Health WINS 2021.

Objective: To summarize and examine data collected from the first-ever Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey Maternal and Child Health (MCH) module.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Responses from MCH governmental public health employees in 47 state health departments and 288 local health departments (LHDs) in the United States.

Main Outcome Measure: Demographic characteristics; 4 measures from the MCH module: the importance of and skill level in 5 MCH competencies in daily work, growth and leadership development opportunities, and additional workforce development needs.

Decarboxylative halogenation of indoles by vanadium haloperoxidases.

Halogenated heteroarenes are key building blocks across numerous chemical industries. Here, we report that vanadium haloperoxidases are capable of producing 3-haloindoles through decarboxylative halogenation of 3-carboxyindoles. This biocatalytic method is applicable to decarboxylative chlorination, bromination, and iodination in moderate to high yields and with excellent chemoselectivity.

Chemoenzymatic Catalysis: Cooperativity Enables Opportunity.

The application of enzymes in synthetic organic chemistry has emerged as a powerful means to generate molecular complexity in a highly selective, efficient, and sustainable manner. While enzymes have increasingly been incorporated into synthetic sequences for numerous academic and industrial applications on their own and in sequential processes, their utility in cooperative catalysis with small molecule catalytic platforms has recently drawn increased attention across the field of organic synthesis. In this review, we present a selection of notable accomplishments in cooperative chemoenzymatic catalysis and provide a perspective on its future directions.

The Autism Intervention Research Network on Physical Health (AIR-P) Research Agenda.

Objectives: In the United States, autistic individuals experience disproportionate physical and mental health challenges relative to non-autistic individuals, including higher rates of co-occurring and chronic conditions and lower physical, social, and psychological health-related quality of life. The Autism Intervention Research Network on Physical Health (AIR-P) is an interdisciplinary, multicenter research network for scientific collaboration and infrastructure that aims to increase the life expectancy and quality of life for autistic individuals, with a focus on underserved or vulnerable populations. The current paper describes the development of the AIR-P Research Agenda.

Building the MCH Public Health Workforce of the Future: A Call to Action from the MCHB Strategic Plan.

Introduction: In 2021, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) released a new strategic plan to guide its work over the next 10-15 years. The plan highlights four goals-access, equity, workforce capacity, and impact-that are essential to achieving MCHB's vision.

Methods: We present 13 recommendations to highlight opportunities for ongoing and new activities aligned with Goal 3 of the plan-"Strengthen Public Health Capacity and Workforce for MCH.

Maternal and neonatal outcomes associated with infertility.

To investigate perinatal outcomes in a cohort of fertile and infertile nulliparous women. Retrospective cohort study. Academic medical center.

Oligohydramnios compromises lung cells size and interferes with epithelial-endothelial development.

Background And Objective: Severe oligohydramnios can induce pulmonary hypoplasia. However, the mechanisms by which leaking of fluids cause lung hypoplasia are not well defined. The objective of this study was to characterize a mouse model of pulmonary hypoplasia induced by oligohydramnios.

Impact of fertility treatment on severe maternal morbidity.

Objective: To determine if fertility treatment is associated with increased risk of severe maternal morbidity (SMM) compared with spontaneous pregnancies.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Academic medical center.

The MCH training program: developing MCH leaders that are equipped for the changing health care landscape.

This article examines the success of the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Bureau's MCH Training Program in producing the next generation of MCH leaders, equipped with interdisciplinary, leadership skills necessary for the changing health care landscape. A secondary data analysis of performance measure data (2007-2011) collected through the discretionary grant information system was performed. Grantees were grouped by grant program (n = 10) for this analysis.

Fathers matter: the role of paternal age in infant mortality.

Infant mortality is the most widely used indicator of a nation's health status and is associated with a plethora of maternal and socioeconomic factors. Although the association between young and old maternal age and the risk of infant mortality is well established, the link between paternal age and birth outcomes has received far less attention. This study seeks to examine the added impact of paternal age on infant mortality, above and beyond that of maternal age among married couples.

Developing a standard approach to examine infant mortality: findings from the State Infant Mortality Collaborative (SIMC).

States can improve pregnancy outcomes by using a standard approach to assess infant mortality. The State Infant Mortality Collaborative (SIMC) developed a series of analyses to describe infant mortality in states, identify contributing factors to infant death, and develop the evidence base for implementing new or modifying existing programs and policies addressing infant mortality. The SIMC was conducted between 2004 and 2006 among five states: Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana, Missouri, and North Carolina.

Assessment of state measures of risk-appropriate care for very low birth weight infants and recommendations for enhancing regionalized state systems.

The goal of this study was to examine state measurements and improvements in risk-appropriate care for very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. The authors reviewed state perinatal regionalization models and levels of care to compare varying definitions between states and assess mechanisms of measurement and areas for improvement. Seven states that presented at a 2009 Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs Perinatal Regionalization Meeting were included in the assessment.

Financing newborn screening: sources, issues, and future considerations.

Newborn screening (NBS) programs are population-based public health programs and are uniquely financed footline compared with many other public health programs. Since they began more than 45 years ago, the financing issues have become more complex for NBS programs. Today, almost all programs have a portion of their costs paid by fees.

Financing state newborn screening programs: sources and uses of funds.

Background: Financing for newborn screening is different from virtually all other public health programs. All except 5 screening programs collect fees as the primary source of program funding. A fee-based approach to financing newborn screening has been adopted by most states, to ensure consistent funding for this critical public health activity.