A MIRI PI has been awarded a 2021 Mentorship Seed Award by the Tufts Medical Center Women in Medicine and Science (WiMS) Committee. The current chair of WiMS is incoming MIRI Interim Executive Director Dr. Perrie O’Tierney-Ginn.
The WiMS Mentorship Seed award for Dr. Yen was for a project of her mentee Jean Kwon, a second year medical student at Tufts University. Dr. Yen’s laboratory research focuses on non-invasive salivary gene expression and brain imaging data to elucidate sex-differential roles of the prenatal opioids on the brain, particularly the hypothalamus and reward centers that regulate feeding behavior in infants with NAS. Jean’s project, entitled “Quantitative Data Assessment on Early Intervention Referral for Infants with Prenatal Opioid Exposure,” aims to improve the Early Intervention (EI) referral rate for infants with prenatal opioid exposure born/admitted at Tufts Medical Center (TCH). Given the long-term adverse neurodevelopmental risks, opioid-exposed newborns are automatically eligible for EI services offered through the Massachusetts Department of Health (MA DPH) at no cost. Yet only 60% of these newborns received EI referrals, likely due to lack of engagement and education on this important topic, among other factors. Of those referred, only 25% were enrolled by 6 months of age, evidence that there is a great need to engage families and optimize the referral process for these newborns. This project aims to 1) improve the EI referral process by identifying hospital personnel to champion the referral process and advocate for post-discharge EI services; and 2) develop a user-friendly pamphlet and utilize statewide EI resources, e.g., a short video, to connect families with the EI services prior to their discharge from the hospital. Through an ongoing collaboration with the MA DPH, we will also provide ongoing education to the entire clinical team to foster the EI referral process at TCH.
MIRI congratulates the PI recipient of this award and the mentees, the next generation of researchers being guided by their mentors in developing their science.
