AMETHIST supports maternal health researchers by offering expertise, resources, and coordination to sites through the NIH IMPROVE Initiative
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) established the Achieving Maternal Empowerment and Transforming Health through Implementation Science and Training (AMETHIST@Penn) Implementation Science Hub to support the NIH IMPROVE initiative by strengthening care across pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum periods. AMETHIST supports the IMPROVE Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence (CoEs), IMPROVE Community Implementation Programs (CIPs), and other IMPROVE investigators, and coordinates with NIH Staff Scientists, Project Staff, and the Data Innovation and Coordinating Hub
AMETHIST focuses on supporting the 12 IMPROVE Maternal Health Centers of Excellence and 4 Community Implementation Programs in centering patients and communities by providing care that reflects their lived experiences and needs throughout the research process.
Our hope is to strengthen the future maternal health research workforce by providing training, mentoring, and consultation. Through this work, AMETHIST will identify common challenges and successful strategies in maternal health implementation research, generating findings that can be applied across projects.
DIC: Data and Innovation Coordinating Hub; IMPROVE: Implementing Maternal Health and Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone; IMPROVE-CIP: Improve Community Implementation Program; NICHD: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; NIH: National Institutes of Health
Co-Directors/Core Leads: Meghan Lane-Fall, MD, MPH, MSHP; Rebecca Hamm, MD, MSCE; LauraEllen Ashcraft, PhD, MSW
Serves as the main point of contact between AMETHIST@Penn, CoEs and CIPs
- Conduct Yearly Site Visits with each Center of Excellence to review successes, address challenges, provide updates, and identify additional ways to support and collaborate.
- Administrative coordination and support of AMETHIST@Penn
- Collaborate with Data Innovation & Coordination Hub and NICHD
- Conduct research project on implementation successes and challenges across the IMPROVE network
Core Leads: Sarita Sonalkar, MD, MPH; Micki Burdick, PhD
Co-Investigators: Jaya Aysola, MD, MPH; Karen Glanz, PhD, MPH; Katelin Hoskins, PhD, MBE, CRNP; Elizabeth Howell, MD, MPP
- Maintain focus on community engagement across Cores
- Perform stakeholder analysis, integration, co-creation
- Review and oversee community engagement in IMPROVE projects
- Consult on learning health system integration and expanding access to care
Core Leads: Rebecca Hamm, MD, MSCE & LauraEllen Ashcraft, PhD, MSW
Co-Investigators: Shimrit Keddem, PhD, MPH; Kristin Linn, PhD; Consultant Panel; Postdoctoral fellow
Includes a Consultant Panel with Methods, Engagement, and Clinical subpanels to meet the anticipated consultation and technical assistance needs of the NIH IMPROVE Centers of Excellence (CoEs) and Community Implementation Programs (CIPs)
- Provide consultation to Centers of Excellence and Community Implementation Programs to support project design most grounded in implementation design
- Convenes forums that address key implementation science concepts, methods, and frameworks
- Produces resource materials to support projects in their implementation efforts
- Consult on study design, biostatistical, qualitative, mixed methods (including measure selection), implementation mapping, blueprint creation, and more.
AMETHIST is not offering direct consults through our cores to investigators outside of IMPROVE at this time. We are not currently able to help investigators with their specific project needs such as designing implementation aims or performing the implementation components of a study. However, individual investigators associated with AMETHIST may be interested in collaborating on your grants or research endeavors, so feel free to reach out to us with any specific asks.
Core Leads: Aasta Mehta, MD, MPP & Man-pui Sally Chan, PhD
Co-Investigators: Debora Grandison, patient advocate; Jessica Fishman, PhD; Courtney Schreiber, MD, MPH; Sindhu Srinivas, MD, MSCE; Karl Stark
- Hosts an annual Policy Day that brings together researchers and stakeholders around a focused maternal health policy topic
- Produces resource materials that support effective sharing of maternal health related stories and strengthen engagement with policy makers and reports
- Hosts forums that support communication and dissemination through patient-centered narratives and advocacy
- Supports dissemination of research findings: op-eds, policy briefs, and media training
- Consults on communication and messaging to stakeholders, policy makers, patients, and the public
- Provides graphic design guidance
- Patient storytelling coaching with patient partner Debora Grandison
Policy and communication-related resources are available on our Resources page. Information about Policy Day will be posted on Events
Core Leads: Meghan Lane-Fall, MD, MPH, MSHP & Rebecca Clark, PhD, MSN, RN, CNM, WHNP-BC
Co-Investigators and Partners: Amanda Bettencourt, PhD, APRN, CCRN-K, ACCNS-P; Danielle Cullen, MD, MPH, MSHP; Penn REACH team
- Hosts monthly seminars that address key topics in implementation science concepts, collaborative approaches, and strengthening research quality.
- Supports Summer Trainees, Postdoctoral researchers, Pilot Grant Recipients, and Nurse & Physician Scholar Programs
- Hosts the annual Penn Implementation Science Institute (ISI)
- Educates and trains in implementation science and leadership
- Conducts varied research seminars with Penn partners
- Trains community partners and researchers together
- Provides mentored research experiences for fellows, students, and other trainees
- Includes REACH, an innovative academic-community partner training program and a comprehensive mentored research experience for both new and established investigators. More information about REACH can be found here
More information about AMETHIST training programs is available here
AMETHIST Core Investigators
Design Core Team
Core Leads:
Co-Investigators:
Training Core Team
Core Leads:
Meghan Lane-Fall, MD, MPH, MSHP
Rebecca Clark, PhD, MSN, RN, CNM, WHNP-BC
Co-Investigators:
AMETHIST Partners
The larger AMETHIST family includes more than 50 investigators and staff members and multiple partnering centers at Penn. AMETHIST's network of consultants can provide tailored, individualized consultation for your specific project area of focus
Implementation science and related fields
Community Engagement
Maternal Health
Implementation science and related fields
Behavioral science
De-implementation
Implementation cost
Human centered design
Global health
Biostatistics
Qualitative & mixed methods
TMF, outcome, strategy selection
Implementation cost
Community Engagement
BIPOC health
BIPOC youth
Community activism
Indigenous health
Rural health
Patient advocacy
Maternal health
Maternal Health
Cardiovascular disease
Diabetes
Family planning
HIV/AIDS
Mental health
L&D/postpartum care
Substance use disorder
Diabetes
Lindsay Admon, MD, MSc (Engagement Enhancement Collaborative and consultant, rural health)
LauraEllen Ashcraft, PhD, MSW (co-investigator, Admin & Design cores)
Jaya Aysola, MD, DTMH, MPH (co-investigator, Engagement core)
Ellen Bass, PhD (consultant, systems engineering & human factors engineering)
Amanda Bettencourt, PhD, APRN, CCRN-K, ACCNS-P (co-investigator, Training core)
Mary Regina Boland, MA, MPhil, PhD (consultant, informatics)
Christopher Bonafide, MD, MSCE (de-implementation)
Man-pui Sally Chan, PhD (co-lead, Policy core)
Rebecca Clark, PhD, MSN, RN, CNM, WHNP-BC (co-lead, Training core)
Danielle Cullen, MD, MPH, MSHP (co-investigator, Training core)
Anuja Dokras, PhD, MD (consultant, women's health innovation)
Celeste Durnwald, MD (consultant, diabetes)
Nwadiogo Ejiogu, MD, MA (Engagement Enhancement Collaborative, reproductive justice)
Jessica Fishman, PhD (co-investigator, Policy core)
Natalie Fixmer-Oraiz, PhD (Engagement Enhancement Collaborative and consultant, LGBTQIA+ health)
Kristin Gerson, MD, PhD (consultant, preterm birth)
Karen Glanz, PhD (co-investigator, Engagement core and consultant, behavioral science)
Debora Grandison (co-investigator, Admin & Policy cores)
Rebecca Hamm, MD, MSCE (MPI and co-lead, Design core)
Heidi Harvie, MD, MBA, MSCE (consultant, implementation cost)
Adi Hirshberg, MD (consultant, hypertension)
Katelin Hoskins, PhD, MBE, CRNP (co-investigator, Engagement core)
Elizabeth Howell, MD, MPP (co-investigator, Admin & Engagement cores)
Abike James, MD, MPH (Engagement Enhancement Collaborative and consultant, BIPOC health)
Sara Kornfield, PhD (consultant, mental health)
Shimrit Keddem, PhD, MPH (co-investigator, Design core)
John Kimberly, PhD (consultant, management science)
Katy Backes Kozhimannil, PhD, MPA (Engagement Enhancement Collaborative and consultant, Indigenous health)
Meghan Lane-Fall, MD, MSCE, FCCM (MPI and co-lead, Training core and consultant, qualitative comparative analysis)
Insup Lee, PhD (consultant, biomedical engineering)
Kirstin Leitner, MD (consultant, postpartum care)
Mary Leonard, BA (graphic design)
Lisa Levine, MD, MSCE (consultant, labor and delivery)
Jennifer Lewey, MD, MPH (consultant, cardiovascular disease)
Kristin Linn, PhD (co-investigator, Design core)
Meghan Lockman, MS, MBA (Managing Director, PISCE@LDI)
Aasta Mehta, MD, MPP (co-lead, Policy core)
Florence Momplaisir, MD, MSHP (consultant, HIV/AIDS)
Jennifer Myers, MD (consultant, quality improvement and patient safety)
Ingrid Nembhard, PhD (consultant, organizational behavior & teamwork)
Katharine Rendle, PhD, MPH (consultant, global health and cancer implementation)
Roy Rosin, MBA (consultant, healthcare innovation)
Courtney Schreiber, MD, MPH (co-investigator, Policy core)
Lindsey Shea, DrPH, MS (Engagement Enhancement Collaborative and consultant, disability health)
Sara Solomon, MPH, RD (Engagement Enhancement Collaborative and co-lead of REACH program)
Sarita Sonalkar, MD, MPH (co-lead, Engagement core)
Karl Stark (co-investigator, Policy core)
Alisa Stephens-Shields, PhD (co-lead, Design Core)
Robin Stevens, PhD, MPH (Engagement Enhancement Collaborative and consultant, BIPOC youth)
Nicole Thomas, MBA, CDP (Engagement Enhancement Collaborative and co-lead of REACH program)
Center for Evidence-Based Practice
Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics
Center for Perioperative Outcomes Research and Transformation
Center for Research in Reproductive and Women's Health
FOCUS on Health and Leadership for Women
Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE) Initiative launched in 2019 in response to high rates of pregnancy-related complications and deaths. The IMPROVE Initiative supports research to reduce preventable causes of maternal deaths and improve health for women before, during, and after pregnancy. It includes a special emphasis on health disparities and populations that are disproportionately affected. More information about IMPROVE can be found on the NIH site.
The 12 Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence (CoEs) work to design and conduct research projects to address the biological, behavioral, environmental, socio-cultural, and structural factors that affect pregnancy-related complications and deaths. In addition to conducting research projects and building community partnerships, the Centers of Excellence support training and professional development, prioritizing early-stage investigators and those from backgrounds or identities currently underrepresented in the health sciences. More information about the CoE projects can be found on the Maternal Health Data Innovation and Coordination Hub website and at the center websites below:
- MIRACLE: Michigan State University (East Lansing, Michigan) The Multilevel Interventions for Maternal Health and Disparities Center
- PRIHSM: Stanford University (Palo Alto, California) Promoting Improvement in Hemorrhage-related Severe Maternal Morbidity
- SCHM: Tulane University (New Orleans, Louisiana) Southern Center for Maternal Health
- MARCH: Avera McKennan (Sioux Falls, South Dakota) The Maternal American Indian Rural Community Health
- ELEVATE: University of Utah (Salt Lake City, Utah) Expand our reach across Utah and the Mountain West, LEVerage existing infrastructure, And Treat pregnant and postpartum people with SUD who experience disparities
- EMBRACE: University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) Equity in Maternal and Birthing Outcomes and Reproductive Health through Community Engagement
- ASCEND-WI: Medical College of Wisconsin (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) Addressing Key Social-Structural Risk Factors for Racial Disparities in Maternal Morbidity in Southeastern Wisconsin
- CORAL: Morehouse School of Medicine (Atlanta, Georgia) Center to Advance Reproductive Justice and Behavioral Health among Black Pregnant/Postpartum Women
- NY- CHAMP: Columbia University (New York, New York) Community-Hospital-Academic Maternal Health Partnerships
- UIC: University of Illinois at Chicago (Chicago, Illinois) Luma Maternal Health Research Center of Excellence
- MS Delta: Jackson State University (Jackson, Mississippi) Mississippi Delta Research Center of Excellence for Maternal Health
- CIRCLE: University of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) Center for Indigenous Resilience, Culture, and Maternal Health Equity
Through the NIH Community Implementation Program (IMPROVE-CIP), community-engaged implementation research brings effective interventions into severely impacted communities. Learn more about IMPROVE-CIP here.
- Arizona State University: Listen to the Villages: A community-engaged process to promote maternal and infant health.
- Texas Tech Health Sciences University: Verifying and Implementing evidence-Based pRograms Addressing Needed Transformations for Maternal health Outcomes, Measures, and Support (VIBRANT MOMS)
- Thomas Jefferson University: Adaptation of the Centering Pregnancy model to enhance prenatal care in pregnant women with opioid use disorder in Philadelphia, PA.
- University of Nebraska Medical Center: Wellness Advocacy Zones: Opportunities for Kinship Involvement (WAZOKI)