2012 Annual Report March of Dimes founder, Franklin D. Roosevelt, with the Foundation’s first president, Basil O’Connor, counting dimes Official White House Photo by Pete Souza President Obama with the 2012 National Ambassador Family “Since its founding by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the March of Dimes has played a key role in helping our Nation uphold its most fundamental obligation — ensuring the health and well-being of our children.” Nearly 4 million babies were born in the United States in officers’ letter 2012, and the March of Dimes Stronger, healthier babies… 75 years in the making contributed to better health for each and every one. Our research advances over the past 75 years are still improving health and saving lives for babies today. Polio once killed or crippled tens of thousands of children. Today, thanks to vaccines developed with March of Dimes support, this disease has been eliminated in most of the world. PKU was once the leading cause of inherited intellectual disability. Today, newborn screening tests developed with funding from the March of Dimes detect PKU and other metabolic disorders so that early treatment can save lives. Thanks to advocacy by our volunteers, every newborn has access to these lifesaving tests. Above: LaVerne H. Council (left) and Dr. Jennifer L. Howse | 2 Neural tube defects (NTDs) — certain defects of the We achieved these campaign results through sustained brain and spine — used to cause serious health and leadership and partnership across multiple fronts: developmental problems in babies. The March of Dimes national folic acid campaign led to fortification of grain • The March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center at products in 1998 with the B vitamin folic acid, and since Stanford University School of Medicine is pioneering then our nation has seen a 26 percent reduction in NTDs. a new transdisciplinary approach to understanding the causes of premature birth. A second multimillion-dollar Respiratory distress syndrome was once the leading research center is planned for 2013. cause of infant deaths. Today, it is routinely treated using surfactant, an approach pioneered through March of • We have led the drive to eliminate early elective Dimes research. deliveries before 39 completed weeks of pregnancy. This work includes quality improvement initiatives In 2012, the March of Dimes with nearly 100 prominent hospitals, and a national con- built on this lifesaving sumer education campaign called Healthy Babies are legacy. In the decade since Worth the Wait®. In 2012, the Department of Health and the launch of our national Human Services built on this approach by launching Prematurity Campaign, Strong Start, an initiative to improve birth outcomes. rates of preterm birth have reached a 10-year low. We estimate that since 2006, at • The March of Dimes is reaching women with community least 120,000 babies have been spared the consequences programs that help them get better prenatal care and of an early birth, and our country has saved at least adopt a healthy lifestyle. We also bring information and $2 billion in excess health care costs. comfort to families through our NICU Family Support® project in 128 hospitals. 3 | marchofdimes.com/annualreport • Through our partnership with the Association of State Founded in 1938 by President and Territorial Health Officials, health departments in Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 48 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia have the March of Dimes has now set goals of reducing their rates of premature birth by completed 75 years of service 8 percent by 2014. to the American people. Babies born in 2012 have the • In 2012, we led the publication of Born Too Soon: best chance of any genera- The Global Action Report on Premature Birth, the first tion to be born healthy due global estimates of premature birth and recommended in no small measure to the historic work of the March of prevention and care strategies for the 15 million babies Dimes, and to our continuing mission commitment. born preterm each year. Our global partners are now pushing forward to bring these lifesaving approaches to countries throughout the world. Dr. Jennifer L. Howse LaVerne H. Council We owe our success to the dedication and creativity of President Chair volunteers who serve on our boards, evaluate our grants and raise funds to fuel our lifesaving work. In 2012, we raised $219 million in total revenue to invest in programs described in this report. | 4 1949 The March of Dimes funded Dr. Jonas Salk whose research led to a “safe, effective and potent” polio vaccine in 1955. The March of Dimes also funded Dr. Albert Sabin’s oral vaccine licensed in 1962. 1953 With their breakthrough of determining the double-helix structure of DNA, March of Dimes grantee James Watson (pictured) with Francis Crick paved the way for mapping the human genome. 1985 The March of Dimes funded the development of surfactant therapy to treat respiratory distress syndrome in premature babies. research Surfactant has saved the lives of thousands of premature babies. 2012 Pioneering transdisciplinary Prematurity Research Center at Stanford University School of Medicine. This urgency underscores why, in 2011, the research March of Dimes launched the nation’s first transdisci- “The death of any child is a tragedy, but the death of a plinary research center dedicated to identifying the causes child from preventable causes is always unjust. This makes our work urgent and motivates us to keep searching for Above: Dr. David K. Stevenson, MD, principal investigator and Professor solutions,” says Paul Wise, MD, of the March of Dimes of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine. | 6 of premature birth, which results in the death of more the Center with $2 million a year and plans to create than 1 million babies yearly worldwide. additional centers. The Center is pioneering a brand-new way of doing Preterm birth can happen to any pregnant woman, science. Teams of specialists from diverse fields — as team leader Atul Butte, MD, PhD, (below) knows from neonatology and genetics to computer science too well. Because his daughter was born at 28 weeks and infectious diseases — are examining the complex and spent her first 70 days in the NICU, he is personally problem of prematurity from every angle. invested in finding answers. His team is developing new computer science techniques to analyze vast “ The death of a child from preventable amounts of genetic and environmental data relevant causes is always unjust. This makes our to prematurity and “boil it down to something useful for patients and providers.” work urgent and motivates us to keep searching for solutions.” Dr. Butte and his team aim to identify maternal genes and protein Why are we so excited about team science? “The whole biomarkers that could be used to idea of putting your brain in someone else’s head and develop diagnostic tests to iden- thinking the way someone else might think who comes tify high-risk women, eventually at the same problem from a very different angle really allowing early treatment to prevent makes you think out of the box. I come away thinking preterm delivery. “In a future prenatal visit, we may have an of new ways of doing my work that I wouldn’t have,” app, where you enter in the parameters and it tells you the says David Relman, MD. The March of Dimes is funding woman’s chance of preterm birth,” says Butte. 7 | marchofdimes.com/annualreport If so, it may be possible to develop drugs to block the Improving babies’ health actions of this protein and prevent this sight-threatening condition in tiny babies. Sudden infant deaths are among the Saving the sight of the smallest babies — that is the goal most shocking and tragic events a of one of the 394 research grants funded by the March of family can face. When a seemingly Dimes in 2012. Other topics include preventing sudden healthy baby or toddler dies suddenly death in babies with a hidden birth defect. due to a severe bacterial infection Nearly 5,000 babies each year in the United States such as pneumonia, the cause may be a missing spleen. develop retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), and too often Some of these deaths could be prevented, if the condi- it leads to blindness. In ROP, the growth of abnormal tion was diagnosed on time. Jean-Laurent Casanova, blood vessels in the eye damages the retina (the lining MD, PhD, (above) of the Rockefeller University in New at the back of the eye). Very premature babies who need York City, is seeking to identify gene changes that cause lifesaving oxygen treatment for breathing problems are lack of spleen development, resulting in an inability to at highest risk. fight off bacterial infections. This study could improve early diagnosis, allowing early treatment with antibiotics Katherine Amberson Hajjar, MD, and vaccines to prevent infection. (pictured) a grantee at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, is investigating whether a protein (annexin A2) helps trigger abnormal growth of blood vessels following oxygen treatment. | 8 1947 Mobile field units served as classrooms and clinics. They were equipped with a respirator, hot pack machine, resuscitation equipment and a power generator to bring medical support where it was needed most. 1968 As medical director of the March of Dimes, Dr. Virginia Apgar stimulated interest in professional education and research into the causes and prevention of birth defects. The “Apgar Score” evaluates a newborn’s condition at birth. 1971 Knowing that many women sought prenatal care only when labor began, the March of Dimes joined forces with women’s groups to educate moms-to-be, a tradition that continues today. education 2012 Giving babies time to grow Expecting a baby is a time of great anticipation, and wait- to be born a little early, but that’s really not the case.