Sonia Hassan, M.D., associate dean for Maternal, Perinatal and Child Health for the Wayne State University's School of Medicine, was named a 2014 Health Care Hero in the "Advancements in Health Care" category by Crain's Detroit Business magazine.
Dr. Hassan, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology for the School of Medicine, and director of the Center for Advanced Obstetrical Care and Research at the National Institutes of Health's Perinatology Research Branch at WSU, was recognized for her work in combatting preterm birth.
"It is an honor to have been selected for this award," Dr. Hassan said. "The efforts of so many people make our work possible. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be a part of the team at Wayne State University, the Perinatology Research Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institutes of Health and the Detroit Medical Center. We look forward to working with the city, health systems and community organizations to make an impact on the rates of preterm birth and infant mortality in Detroit."
In 2011, Hassan led a research team at the PRB - housed at WSU and the DMC- that found the use of progesterone in mothers identified as at risk for premature birth cut that risk by nearly half. The study, for which Dr. Hassan was the lead author, showed that the rate of preterm delivery in women less than 33 weeks into their pregnancy can be reduced by 45 percent simply by treating the women at risk with a low-cost gel of natural progesterone. Once a mother at high risk for preterm delivery has been identified she can be offered treatment with the progesterone gel. The inexpensive gel is applied by the mother intravaginally daily. Generally, women are identified as high risk between 19 and 24 weeks of gestation. They apply the progesterone through the 37th week of pregnancy.
The process of identifying women at high risk for preterm birth and who could benefit from the progesterone therapy was the result of a second PRB study. That study found that women with a short cervix - one that is less than 25 millimeters long - are at risk for premature birth. Women can be identified as having a short cervix via a simple, painless cervical ultrasound.
The combined results of the two studies indicate that it is now possible to offer all pregnant women a method to determine whether they are at risk for preterm birth and prevent a significant number of preterm births in women with a short cervix. Universal implementation of cervical ultrasound and vaginal progesterone is estimated to result in the prevention of approximately 30,000 preterm births at less than 35 weeks in the United States per year, with an annual savings of more than $500 million in health care costs.
The PRB research involving cervical ultrasounds and the use of progesterone became part of Gov. Rick Snyder's Infant Mortality Reduction Plan in 2012. The plan promotes the adoption of universal cervical length screening by ultrasound and the use of progesterone in women identified as high risk for premature birth.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan has announced that Dr. Hassan will lead his initiative to reduce the city's preterm birth numbers, an effort he plans to unveil March 1.
Read the full Crain's article here: http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20140216/AWARDS05/302169997/sonia-hassan-m-d.