March of Dimes, whose mission is to give every baby a healthy start, has launched an exciting new research program in partnership with Stanford University, one of the premier research intuitions in the world. This video demonstrates the commitment and enthusiasm of some of the 130 renowned medical and biological researchers embarking on a unique transdisciplinary approach to put an end to premature birth.
Happy Nurse Appreciation Week to all the incredible nurses out there! Nurses play a critical role in advancing the mission of the March of Dimes. They serve the foundation in so many ways: as health care providers, educators, researchers, fundraisers, chapter volunteers and advisors. Nurses work tirelessly and we can’t thank them enough!
March of Dimes is pleased to honor nursing excellence and pay tribute to hundreds of nurses that are at the front lines of care and have had a tremendous impact on patients and their families. Each year, nurses with various specialties are nominated for Nurse of the Year awards by colleagues and families alike. A prestigious group of healthcare professionals review applications and make award selections in a number of categories. You can take a look at the amazing Nurse of the Year award winners for 2012 from around the country at this link.
Do you know an amazing nurse? Tell us about him or her!
Each year over four million babies are born in the United States and the March of Dimes helps each of them through research, education, vaccination and breakthroughs. What are your little ones born to be? Help them be great!!!
Lots of communities around the country held March for Babies walks this past weekend. Men, women and children participated in fun, frolicking and fundraising to support our mission to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant death.
We are incredibly grateful to all of the thousands of sponsors, individuals and family teams who laced up their sneakers and walked, strolled, ran or danced down the road to help raise funds to help give every baby a healthy start. You rock!!!
We loved reading your tweets and seeing your great photos - keep ‘em coming! And to all of you who are walking in March for Babies events in the next few weeks, thank you for joining us, send us your pictures and have a fabulously fun day.
In 1952, James Watson was an unknown scientist who applied to the March of Dimes for a fellowship proposing research on X-ray diffraction patterns of proteins and nucleic acids. Knowing that the March of Dimes funded basic science as well as polio prevention, Watson hoped that the grant he would receive might enable him to conduct a year of research and cover his lab expenses. His modest grant award of $5,678, roughly equivalent to $50,000 today, led to one of the most momentous discoveries of the age. On April 25, 1953 Watson and his colleague Francis Crick published “A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid” in the journal Nature. The field of molecular genetics was launched. They had discovered the double-helical structure of DNA.
Much has been written about Watson and Crick’s famous discovery, for which they received the Nobel Prize in 1962. Their path-breaking research vastly expanded the field of genetics, leading to knowledge unimaginable in their day. Their accomplishment also prefigured what the March of Dimes would do next. After funding the vaccines that brought the scourge of polio to a halt, the Foundation turned to the riddle of birth defects, knowing that the keys of genetics would open further doors to this intractable problem.
By the 1960s, the March of Dimes sponsored birth defects and clinical genetics conferences to keep medical professionals up-to-date with progress in the field. We helped to develop a universal standardized language (the karyotype) to describe human chromosomes. At a March of Dimes conference in 1969, Dr. Victor McKusick proposed that science might create a molecular map of all genes. His idea sparked the March of Dimes to organize a series of human gene mapping workshops that ultimately led to the Human Genome Project of the 1990s.
Our interest in genetics goes beyond science itself to assisting individuals and families. We have developed the field of genetic counseling to help parents and parents-to-be understand the risks of inherited disorders. We helped to establish the first master’s degree program in genetic counseling at a U.S. college. In the 1980s we sponsored an educational program on Genetic Decision Making and Pastoral Care, enabling clergy from different religions to understand the complexities of genetics in order to give appropriate counseling to concerned families. At the same time, our funding of scientific research has remained fundamental. Our grantees have identified the gene for Fragile X Syndrome and have created therapies for other life-threatening disorders.
As we note the 60th anniversary of Watson and Crick’s famous article on the double helix of DNA, we look forward to a time when birth defects and premature birth have receded into the past just as polio has done. Our steadfast commitment to “stronger, healthier babies” is grounded in the building blocks of genetics that help us identify the causes of disease.
This week, April 21-27, is National Volunteer Week and we want to give an enormous shout out to all our wonderful volunteers. These are the extraordinary folks who make this organization great.
More than 3 million volunteers enable the March of Dimes to achieve its goals. Every year, these leaders march more than 5 million miles, speak to tens of thousands of people about the mission and help raise millions of dollars. From the very earliest days, volunteers have been full partners in the March of Dimes, working to raise funds, heighten awareness and implement critical programs to help support our mission.
This diverse group of volunteers, led by a local volunteer leadership of approximately 3,000 chapter and division board members, brings knowledge, business experience and passion to ensure the March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health. We celebrate their leadership and that of our corporate partners and national service partners! We also have bright and energetic youth councils working in high schools and colleges. We have had celebrity volunteers from the early years (Eddie Cantor, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley…) to today’s hot tickets like Pink, Dee Snider, and Thalia!
With the support of these exceptional, high-impact volunteers, the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.
Thank you all so, SO much for what you do during this special week and all throughout the year!
Exciting news - our iPhone app CineMama is Parenting Magazine’s App of the Week!
Cinemama is an iPhone app that lets you turn daily photos of your belly into a fun movie momento of your pregnancy. You can record memories and milestones in a diary while staying informed with weekly tips.
Track your growing belly with pictures organized by day and month in an easy to view calendar mode. The more photos you take the better your movie will be. Customize it with titles and one of our soundtracks for a great effect. You can keep it private or share it with friends and family.
It’s cool, it’s fun, it’s free! Check it out!
Who doesn’t love to watch a baby take his first steps? It will put a smile on anyone’s face! Look at these adorable tots and consider walking with us for stronger, healthier babies.
Please lace up your sneakers and help all these wonderful people March for Babies!
Sickle cell disease is a genetic blood disorder in which round red blood cells take on a characteristic abnormal, curved “sickle” shape. African-Americans and others from tropical sub-Saharan Africa are most susceptible to this disorder, which can cause intense pain, high blood pressure, stroke, damage to vital organs, and the risk of serious infection. March of Dimes research involvement into the causes and prevention of sickle cell disease dates back to the polio era, when the chemist Linus Pauling discovered that the disease results from an abnormality in molecules of hemoglobin, which carries oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. Dr. Pauling’s finding that sickle hemoglobin differs in a measurable way from normal hemoglobin introduced the idea that heritable changes in the structure of a molecule could lead to improper function and result in disease. Dr. Pauling received one of the earliest basic research grants from the March of Dimes, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954. His work laid thegroundwork for techniques used in newborn screening and the diagnosis of sickle cell disease today.
After the March of Dimes changed its mission to birth defects prevention in 1958, sickle cell disease again came to the forefront of concern as a significant, but treatable, genetic disorder. The Foundation supported several lines of research: one was a medication that prevents red blood cells from “sickling;” another was giving daily antibiotics to affected infants and toddlers to prevent life-threatening bacterial infections; a third was bone marrow transplantation, used to cure other genetic blood disorders as well as severe sickle cell disease. The Foundation helped to establish one of the first pediatric clinics in the U.S. to care for infants and children with sickle cell disease at the Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York City in the late 1970s. This center provided medical services, social and psychological support, genetic counseling and education needed by children with sickle cell disease as well as their families and communities. March of Dimes researchers investigated the effectiveness of innovative drug treatments and a multi-disciplinary team approach to caring for infants and children affected by the disease.
For over 50 years the March of Dimes has focused on treatment of sickle cell disease in its quest to prevent all birth defects. In 1982, March of Dimes grants led to the development of a safe and accurate prenatal test for the disease, and even today our grants support cutting-edge medical research. We hope to understand the molecular pathways of cellular development, to determine the risk factors inherent in the disease to prevent other infections, and to explore innovative gene therapies to eliminate the risks of leukemia in those affected by the disease. These are just a sampling of some of the ways we strive for “stronger, healthier babies” in our 75th anniversary year.
