Nursing postdoc awarded prestigious grant
Villegas-Downs received grant from the Burroughs-Wellcome Fund
A UIC Nursing postdoctoral researcher received a Postdoctoral Diversity Enrichment Program grant from the Burroughs-Wellcome Fund.
Michelle Villegas-Downs, PhD ‘24, RN, was one of only 30 postdocs from across the country – in disciplines spanning the sciences – to receive the three-year, $60,000 award for research.
Villegas-Downs, whose background is as a mother-baby nurse, will use the grant to fund her project, “Advancing Postpartum Health Equity: Remote Surveillance and Education for Morbidity and Mortality Prevention.”
“The postpartum period is the most dangerous time period for women because they’re really not followed after delivery,” Villegas-Downs says. “The shift of care goes toward the baby, even mom’s attention. Only about 60% of women actually show up to their follow-up appointment at six weeks.”
The feasibility study will allow Villegas-Downs to remotely monitor the health of mothers who are at risk for severe health complications. The study will include 40 women at the UIH Outpatient Care Center, following them from delivery through the first six weeks at home with wearable devices. The grant funding will allow her to purchase Fitbits and blood pressure cuffs to track vital signs. Villegas-Downs’ faculty mentor is professor Judith Schlaeger, PhD, CNM, LAc, FACNM, FAAN.
Villegas-Downs says high blood pressure is one of the key symptoms she’ll be monitoring due to the risk of stroke or other major complications.
The Burroughs Wellcome Fund is an independent private foundation dedicated to advancing biomedical sciences by supporting research and education. The Postdoctoral Diversity Enrichment Program is intended to cultivate a diverse scientific workforce equipped to tackle the complex health challenges of the future.
Success as a PhD student
Villegas-Downs is also a Bridge to Faculty Scholar, which is a two-year postdoctoral program designed to transition scholars into faculty positions at UIC. A first-generation Mexican American from the Hermosa neighborhood in Chicago, she is the first in her family to earn a PhD.
As a PhD student, Villegas-Downs was awarded the Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health. The highly competitive grant is awarded to fewer than 30% of applicants.
In that project, she worked with professor emerita Barbara McFarlin, PhD ’05, MS ’84, BSN ’74, CNM, RDMS, FACNM, FAAN, to use quantitative ultrasound technology to evaluate whether changes to the cervix differ between women who delivered preterm and those who delivered at term.