Research Summary
The Women’s Health Group—headed by Donna D.Baird，Ph.D.—uses the tools of reproductive epidemiology to address women's reproductive health issues.It combines epidemiologic methdevelopment with research of public health concern.This research has focused on:
- fertility and early pregnancy
- epidemiology of uterine fibroids
The Early Pregnancy Study，alongstanding collaboration between Baird，Clarice Weinberg，Ph.D.，and Allen Wilcox，M.D.，Ph.D。， was a prospective cohort study conducted in the 1980s that was designed to determine the risk of early loss of pregnancy among healthy women.Particpants collected daily urine specimens during the menstrial cycles when they were trying to conceive and also during the first eight weeks of gestation for those Unge for bes分析，分析for human chorionic gonadotropin（hCG），estrogeen and progesterone metabolites and luteinizing hormone（LH）to identify ovulation and implantation。These markers served as benchmarks for studying fertility and corpus luteum rescue， and length of pregnancy.The researchers have collaborated with the Centers for Disease Control to measure urinarkers of exposure to bisphenol Aand phthalates in order to investigate associations with fertility and the reproductive events of early pregnancy as pregnancy outcomes。
We conducted the NIEHS Uterine Fibroid Study（UFS）which screened randomly selected participants，35-49years of age，for fibroids using transvaginal ultrasound.We described the prevalence of these benign tumors in black and white women（Baird et al.，2003）and have alyzed the data to ifor ifor。As in laboratory animal studies of fibroids（Walker et al.，2001），parity is protective.As an explanation，wehypothesized that postpartum uterine remodeling could clear existing lesions from the myometrium（Baird et al，2003）。To test this hypothesis，a collaborative study was designed with Right From The Star，a prospective pregnancy study that screens for fibroids in very early pregnancy；findings are consistent with the hypothesized mechanism.Also，confirming laboratory animal studies，the UFS data revealed an increased risk associated with prenatal diethystilbestrol（DES）exposure（Baird and Newbold，2005）。Study participants were followed to assess the health consequences of fibroids，with a final follow-up completed in 2005，and the initial ultrasound data on size of fibroid（s）was associated with surgical treatment during follow-up，suggesting that a single ultrasound exam is strongly predictive of adverse health consequences of fibroids。
We collaborated with other NIEHS researchers and clinicians at the University of North Carolina to describe fibroid growth using magnetic resonance imaging at3-6month intervals over a year.Though most fibroids grewslowly on average， asmall minority grewvery rapidly while others shrank；individual tumors withina woman were high ly variable in their growth dynamics with no evidence of synchrony among tumors。
We are currently conducting a large prospective study of uterine fibroids，the Study of Environment，Lifestyle&Fibroids（SELF）。African-American women in the Detroit，Michigan area，aged23-34， who have not been diagnosed with fibroids are being enrolled.Ultrasound is used to determine their fibroid status at enrollment.Further ultrasound examinations at20-month intervals overa5-year follow-upidentify new fibroids and provide measures of fibroid growth.Risk factors for fibroid ciid incide ed。
Baird received a B.A.from Macalester College，a Ph.D.in evolutionary ecology from the University of Minnesota and an M.P.H.in epidemiology from the School of Public Health， University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.She did a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Biopolitical Research at Northern Illinois University and a year at the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study before coming to NIEHS in 1983.Baird currently serves as a Principal Investigator at NIEHS。
