Transformative grant empowers Duke to launch statewide maternal and child health initiative
Duke University has received a $30 million, 10-year grant from the Pritzker Children’s Initiative to improve maternal and early childhood health across North Carolina. The effort will bring together experts in clinical care, economics, policy, and public health — alongside families and communities — to create more connected, effective systems of care for pregnant women and young children.
Across North Carolina, care during pregnancy and early childhood is delivered through systems that were not designed to work together. For families, that can mean navigating multiple providers, programs, and services without clear coordination or support.
This initiative aims to change that — and create a future where every pregnant woman and every baby is supported by their communities and systems that deliver real-time, trusted care, social supports, and economic resources from pregnancy through the earliest years of life.
“The evidence is clear that the greatest window of opportunity to improve maternal health, and shape a child’s lifelong health and development, is from pregnancy to age three,” said Duke President Vincent E. Price. “We are honored that the Pritzker Children’s Initiative recognizes Duke as an effective partner in supporting the health of families and communities across North Carolina.”
North Carolina ranks 36th in the nation in child health outcomes. The state receives a D+ grade for preterm births and a C- for maternal mental health, with one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country. While many of the medical, social, and economic resources needed by mothers and young children exist, they are difficult to access.
This initiative will strengthen how families connect to care and support. It aims to change the trajectories for children and families, foster maternal well-being, and improve health statewide.
“This initiative is not about creating new programs — it’s about connecting what already exists in transformative ways,” said Provost Alec Gallimore. “Working together, Duke University experts — coupled with the knowledge and vital experience of communities and advocates — are blazing a new path for North Carolina.”
Over the next decade, Duke’s initiative aims to:
- Focus on families, build relationships, and strengthen communities
- Integrate data across health, social services, and community programs
- Ensure that all families have access to health care, social supports, and economic resources
- Improve maternal mental health and well-being
- Bring down preterm birth rates
- Ensure that children are healthy and ready to learn by kindergarten
- Generate clear evidence for statewide policy change that prioritizes whole-family health
“When health is supported early, it sets the course for lifelong well‑being,” said Mary Klotman M.D., executive vice president for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. “Focused on this pivotal period, the initiative brings together clinical care, family supports, and community partnerships to shape healthier generations to come.”
The initiative will pilot models in at least two regions of the state, leveraging the infrastructure and partnerships built through state and community investments in the N.C. Integrated Care for Kids model and the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services’ Healthy Opportunities Pilots. The grant will be largely directed to support community partners in co-designing, implementing and testing high-quality, data-driven clinical and social care delivery strategies to support pregnant women and their families.
Duke’s interdisciplinary leadership team includes Rushina Cholera, M.D., Ph.D., a pediatrician and epidemiologist; Lisa Gennetian, Ph.D., an applied economist; and Sarahn Wheeler, M.D., M.H.S., an OB-GYN who is a maternal-fetal medicine specialist.
“This initiative brings together faculty from across Duke's schools and Institutes with partners throughout North Carolina,” said Manoj Mohanan, interim dean of the Sanford School of Public Policy. “By working directly with families and communities, we’ll generate the rigorous evidence needed to transform how the state supports maternal and child health.”
“We’re proud to train the next generation of leaders and experts dedicated to prenatal and early childhood health,” said Mark McClellan, director of the Margolis Institute for Health Policy. “The faculty affiliated with our institute look forward to helping expand the understanding of how economic security can improve health for families.”
The Pritzker Children’s Initiative supports grantees in states and communities as they develop and implement comprehensive, universal systems with targeted strategies to reach families furthest from opportunity as an effect of systemic/institutional racism and poverty. The initiative champions the creation and expansion of a national movement to increase investment in universal and targeted prenatal-to-3 services and supports to infants and toddlers and their families.