New Preeclampsia Research Funding
Preeclampsia Foundation Launches Research Grants to Combat Pre-Term Deliveries, Seeks Proposals for 2025
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The Preeclampsia Foundation is now accepting Letters of Intent for the 2025 Peter Joseph Pappas Research Grants, offering up to $200,000 to fund research aimed at ending preterm deliveries caused by preeclampsia. The grants, named for an infant boy lost to stillbirth after his mother developed the condition at 29 weeks, will fund multiple two-year projects running from 2025 to 2027, according to Preeclampsia Foundation.
Preeclampsia affects 5% to 8% of all U.S. pregnancies and drives roughly 15% of all premature births nationwide, per March of Dimes. Today, the only proven way to stop the disease is to deliver the baby — a choice that can save the mother but puts the infant at serious risk.
A Family's Loss Becomes a Research Mission
Lauren and Clement Pappas created the grant program after losing their son, Peter Joseph, to stillbirth. Lauren, a preeclampsia survivor, has said the family wants to fund the "missing link" in current research. Their goal is simple: no other family should lose a child — or face a traumatic premature birth — because of this disease, according to ADVFN.
The Preeclampsia Foundation's CEO, Eleni Tsigas, sharpened that mission. She said the Foundation is "not just looking for more data" but for "the clinical application of that data to delay delivery safely." The grants are designed as seed funding — small enough to move fast, but targeted enough to unlock larger NIH grants down the road.
The 'Delivery Dilemma' Doctors Have Faced for Decades
When preeclampsia strikes early — in the second trimester or early third trimester — doctors face a brutal choice. Delivering the baby stops the mother's disease from getting worse. But it forces the infant into the world weeks or months too early. That early birth can cause lung failure, brain damage, or death.
Prior research focused on low-dose aspirin to prevent preeclampsia. It helps some patients, but it does not stop the disease once it starts. Experts now say that even delaying delivery by 48 to 72 hours can make a major difference. That window lets doctors give steroids to speed up the baby's lung development, per Yahoo Finance.
Registry Data and Research Gaps Drive 2025 Priorities
Applicants must address gaps identified during the Foundation's 2020 "Vision 2020" Workshop. That meeting brought together clinicians, researchers, and patients to map out exactly where preeclampsia science is falling short. Priority goes to proposals that use the Preeclampsia Registry™ — a dataset built from over 10,000 survivor records, according to UK Yahoo Finance.
The Registry is described as "patient-powered," meaning survivors submit their own health data alongside clinical records. Researchers say that mix of patient-reported outcomes and clinical data makes findings more useful for real-world treatment decisions.
$26 Billion Problem That Falls Hardest on Black Women
Preterm births cost the U.S. healthcare system more than $26 billion every year, per the National Academy of Medicine. Cutting even 10% of preeclampsia-driven preterm deliveries could save billions in NICU costs and long-term disability care. Individual grants are expected to range from $25,000 to $50,000 per year over two years.
The stakes are especially high for Black women, who are 60% more likely to develop preeclampsia than white women, according to CDC data. They also face sharply higher rates of maternal death. Researchers and public health advocates say this funding fills a gap that the traditional pharmaceutical industry has largely ignored.
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