Laura Jelliffe-Pawlowski

Faculty

Jelliffe-Pawlowski Headsot

Laura Jelliffe-Pawlowski

PhD MS

1 212 998 9020

433 First Ave
New York, NY 10010
United States

Laura Jelliffe-Pawlowski, PhD, MS, is a Professor at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. Prof. Jelliffe-Pawlowski’s research interests focus on understanding and addressing the drivers and consequences of adverse pregnancy outcomes with a special emphasis on preterm birth and associated racial/ethnic and socioeconomic inequities. Her work is highly transdisciplinary and looks at the interplay of biomolecular, social, and policy factors in observed patterns and outcomes. Her teaching and mentorship activities reflect this transdisciplinary approach with an emphasis on motivating the translation of research findings into action.

Jelliffe-Pawlowski leads a number of statewide, national, and international research efforts funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the March of Dimes, the State of California, and other entities. These includes, notably, the “Healthy Outcomes of Pregnancy for Everyone (HOPE)” consortium and study which focuses on understanding the experience of pregnant people and their infants pre- and post-COVID 19 pandemic. HOPE examines how biomolecular, social, and community factors affect the well-being and outcomes of mothers and infants and includes enrollment during pregnancy with outcome follow-up to 18-months after birth. Other ongoing projects include, for example, the NIH funded “Prediction Of Maturity, Morbidity, and Mortality in PreTerm Infants (PROMPT)”, study which focuses on examining the metabolic profiles of newborns with early preterm birth and associated outcomes, the “Transforming Health and Reducing PerInatal Anxiety through Virtual Engagement (THRIVE)”, randomized control trial (RCT), funded by the State of California which examines whether digital cognitive behavior therapy delivered by mobile app can assist in reducing anxiety symptoms in pregnant people and also examines participant acceptability of the application. Ongoing efforts also include leading the “California Prediction of Poor Outcomes of Pregnancy (CPPOP)” cohort study which focuses on investigating multi-omic drivers of preterm birth. The study interrogates biomolecular signals associated with preterm birth and includes full genome sequencing and mid-pregnancy biomolecular signaling related to metabolic, immune, stress, and placental function in hundreds of pregnancies with and without preterm birth.

Prior to her joining NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing, Jelliffe-Pawlowski was a Professor of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Chief of the Division of Lifecourse Epidemiology, a Professor in the Institute of Global Health Sciences, and Director of Discovery and Precision Health for the UCSF California Preterm Birth Initiative in the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine. She has a lifetime appointment as an Emeritus Professor of Epidemiology & Biostatistics in the UCSF School of Medicine and continues to work closely with the new Center for Birth Equity at UCSF. Prior to her appointment at UCSF, she was a leader at the Genetic Disease Screening Program within the California Department of Public Health.

Jelliffe-Pawlowski efforts have been highlighted in numerous academic and lay articles including in the New York Times, in WIRED Magazine, in the Atlantic, on CNN, and on MSNBC. In 2023, she was recognized by Forbes Magazine as one of the top 50 over 50 Innovators in the United States. She is also a Phase I and Phase II Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenges awardee for her work in the United States and Uganda which focused on the development and validation of newborn metabolic profile as a novel measure of gestational age in infants.

PhD in Human Development, University of California Davis
MS in Child Development, University of California Davis
BA in Psychology, University of California Los Angeles

Preterm Birth

Forbes 50 over 50 awardee in Innovation (2023)
Delegate, African Academy of Sciences (2016)
Awardee, Bill and Melinda Bates Foundation, Gates Grand Challenges Phase I and II
Governor Brown Appointee for the California Department of Public Health, Interagency Coordinating Council on Early Intervention

Risk factors for neonatal encephalopathy in late preterm and term singleton births in a large California birth cohort

Bandoli, G., Suttner, D., Kiernan, E., Baer, R. J., Jelliffe-Pawlowski, L., & Chambers, C. D. (2022). (Vols. 42, Issues 3, pp. 341-347). 10.1038/s41372-021-01242-z
Abstract
Abstract
Objective: The objective was to investigate maternal and pregnancy characteristics associated with neonatal encephalopathy (NE). Study design: We queried an administrative birth cohort from California between 2011 and 2017 to determine the association between each factor and NE with and without hypothermia treatment. Results: From 3 million infants born at 35 or more weeks of gestation, 6,857 cases of NE were identified (2.3 per 1000 births), 888 (13%) received therapeutic hypothermia. Risk factors for NE were stronger among cases receiving hypothermia therapy. Substance-related diagnosis, preexisting diabetes, preeclampsia, and any maternal infection were associated with a two-fold increase in risk. Maternal overweight/obesity, nulliparity, advanced maternal age, depression, gestational diabetes or hypertension, and short or long gestations also predicted NE. Young maternal age, Asian race and Hispanic ethnicity, and cannabis-related diagnosis lowered risk of NE. Conclusions: By disseminating these results, we encourage further interrogation of these perinatal factors.

The risk of preterm birth among women with a history of leukemia or lymphoma

Anand, S. T., Chrischilles, E. A., Baer, R. J., Charlton, M. E., Breheny, P. J., Terry, W. W., McLemore, M. R., Karasek, D. A., Jelliffe-Pawlowski, L., & Ryckman, K. K. (2022). (Vols. 35, Issues 25, pp. 6115-6123). 10.1080/14767058.2021.1907332
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Abstract
Objective: Leukemia and lymphoma are top cancers affecting children, adolescents and young adults with high five-year survival rates. Late effects of these cancers are a concern in reproductive-age patients, including pregnancy outcomes such as preterm birth. Our study aimed to evaluate whether diagnosis of leukemia or lymphoma prior to pregnancy was associated with preterm birth (

Targeted newborn metabolomics : prediction of gestational age from cord blood

Jasper, E. A., Oltman, S. P., Rogers, E. E., Dagle, J. M., Murray, J. C., Kamya, M., Kakuru, A., Kajubi, R., Ochieng, T., Adrama, H., Okitwi, M., Olwoch, P., Jagannathan, P., Clark, T. D., Dorsey, G., Ruel, T., Jelliffe-Pawlowski, L., & Ryckman, K. K. (2022). (Vols. 42, Issues 2, pp. 181-186). 10.1038/s41372-021-01253-w
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Abstract
Objective: Our study sought to determine whether metabolites from a retrospective collection of banked cord blood specimens could accurately estimate gestational age and to validate these findings in cord blood samples from Busia, Uganda. Study Design: Forty-seven metabolites were measured by tandem mass spectrometry or enzymatic assays from 942 banked cord blood samples. Multiple linear regression was performed, and the best model was used to predict gestational age, in weeks, for 150 newborns from Busia, Uganda. Results: The model including metabolites and birthweight, predicted the gestational ages within 2 weeks for 76.7% of the Ugandan cohort. Importantly, this model estimated the prevalence of preterm birth

The association between preterm birth and postpartum mental healthcare utilization among California birthing people

Calthorpe, L. M., Baer, R. J., Chambers, B. D., Steurer, M. A., Shannon, M. T., Oltman, S. P., Karvonen, K. L., Rogers, E. E., Rand, L. I., Jelliffe-Pawlowski, L., & Pantell, M. S. (2021). (Vols. 3, Issues 4). 10.1016/j.ajogmf.2021.100380
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: While mental health conditions such as postpartum depression are common, little is known about how mental healthcare utilization varies after term versus preterm delivery. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine whether preterm birth is associated with postpartum inpatient and emergency mental healthcare utilization. STUDY DESIGN: The study sample was obtained from a database of live-born neonates delivered in California between the years of 2011 and 2017. The sample included all people giving birth to singleton infants between the gestational age of 20 and 44 weeks. Preterm birth was defined as

Association between Z-score for birth weight and postoperative outcomes in neonates and infants with congenital heart disease

Steurer, M. A., Peyvandi, S., Costello, J. M., Moon-Grady, A. J., Habib, R. H., Hill, K. D., Jacobs, M. L., Jelliffe-Pawlowski, L., Keller, R. L., Pasquali, S. K., Reddy, V. M., Tabbutt, S., & Rajagopal, S. (2021). (Vols. 162, Issues 6, pp. 1838-1847.e4). 10.1016/j.jtcvs.2021.01.065
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Abstract
Objective: We hypothesized that infants with fetal growth restrictions have increased mortality and morbidity after congenital heart disease surgery. Methods: The study included patients in The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Congenital Heart Surgery Database (2010-2016) who underwent cardiac surgery at a corrected gestational age of ≤44 weeks. Patients were classified as severely (birth weight Z-score −4 to −2), moderately (Z-score −2 to −1), and mildly growth restricted (Z-score −1.0 to −0.5) and compared with a reference population (Z-score 0-0.5). Multivariable logistic regression clustering on center was used to evaluate the association of birth weight Z-score with operative mortality and postoperative complications and its interaction with gestational age was assessed. Results: In 25,244 patients, operative mortality was 8.6% and major complications occurred in 19.4%. Compared with the reference group, the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of mortality was increased in infants with severe (AOR, 2.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.0-3.0), moderate (AOR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.4-2.0), and mild growth restriction (AOR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.2-1.6). The AOR for major postoperative complications was increased for severe (AOR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.2-1.7) and moderate growth restriction (AOR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.1-1.4). There was significant interaction between birth weight Z-score and gestational age (P = .007). Conclusions: Even birth weight Z-scores slightly below average are independent risk factors for mortality and morbidity in infants who undergo cardiac surgery. The strongest association between poor fetal growth and operative mortality exists in early-term infants. These novel findings might account for some of the previously unexplained variation in cardiac surgical outcomes.

The association of COVID-19 infection in pregnancy with preterm birth : A retrospective cohort study in California

Karasek, D., Baer, R. J., McLemore, M. R., Bell, A. J., Blebu, B. E., Casey, J. A., Coleman-Phox, K., Costello, J. M., Felder, J. N., Flowers, E., Fuchs, J. D., Gomez, A. M., Karvonen, K., Kuppermann, M., Liang, L., McKenzie-Sampson, S., McCulloch, C. E., Oltman, S. P., Pantell, M. S., … Jelliffe-Pawlowski, L. (2021). (Vols. 2). 10.1016/j.lana.2021.100027
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Abstract
Introduction: Our understanding of the association between coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) and preterm or early term birth among racially and ethnically diverse populations and people with chronic medical conditions is limited. Methods: We determined the association between COVID-19 and preterm (PTB) birth among live births documented by California Vital Statistics birth certificates between July 2020 and January 2021 (n=240,147). We used best obstetric estimate of gestational age to classify births as very preterm (VPTB,

Association of Maternal Immune Activation during Pregnancy and Neurologic Outcomes in Offspring

Jain, S., Baer, R. J., McCulloch, C. E., Rogers, E., Rand, L., Jelliffe-Pawlowski, L., & Piao, X. (2021). (Vols. 238, pp. 87-93.e3). 10.1016/j.jpeds.2021.04.069
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Abstract
Objective: To evaluate neurologic morbidity among offspring during their first year of life in association with prenatal maternal immune activation (MIA), using an inclusive definition. Study design: This retrospective cohort study included singletons born in California between 2011 and 2017. MIA was defined by International Classification of Diseases diagnosis of infection, autoimmune disorder, allergy, asthma, atherosclerosis, or malignancy during pregnancy. Neurologic morbidity in infants was defined by International Classification of Diseases diagnosis of intraventricular hemorrhage, periventricular leukomalacia, seizures, abnormal neurologic examination, or abnormal neurologic imaging. Outcomes of delayed developmental milestones during the first year of life were also explored. Risk of neurologic morbidity in offspring was approximated for women with and without MIA using log link binary regression. Results: Demographic characteristics among 3 004 166 mother-infant dyads with or without MIA were similar in both groups. Rate of preterm delivery in mothers with MIA (9.4%) was significantly higher than those without MIA (5.6%). Infants of mothers with MIA were more likely to experience neurologic morbidities across all gestational ages. Adjusted relative risk (95% CI) in the exposed infants was 2.0 (1.9-2.1) for abnormal neurologic examination; 1.6 (1.5-1.7) for seizures, and 1.6 (1.4-1.8) for periventricular leukomalacia. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that MIA during pregnancy may be associated with considerably higher risk of neurologic morbidity in offspring.

Association of maternal prenatal selenium concentration and preterm birth : A multicountry meta-analysis

Monangi, N., Xu, H., Khanam, R., Khan, W., Deb, S., Pervin, J., Price, J. T., Kennedy, S. H., Al Mahmud, A., Fan, Y., Le, T. Q., Care, A., Landero, J. A., Combs, G. F., Belling, E., Chappell, J., Kong, F., Lacher, C., Ahmed, S., … Muglia, L. (2021). (Vols. 6, Issues 9). 10.1136/bmjgh-2021-005856
Abstract
Abstract
Background Selenium (Se), an essential trace mineral, has been implicated in preterm birth (PTB). We aimed to determine the association of maternal Se concentrations during pregnancy with PTB risk and gestational duration in a large number of samples collected from diverse populations. Methods Gestational duration data and maternal plasma or serum samples of 9946 singleton live births were obtained from 17 geographically diverse study cohorts. Maternal Se concentrations were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analysis. The associations between maternal Se with PTB and gestational duration were analysed using logistic and linear regressions. The results were then combined using fixed-effect and random-effect meta-analysis. Findings In all study samples, the Se concentrations followed a normal distribution with a mean of 93.8 ng/mL (SD: 28.5 ng/mL) but varied substantially across different sites. The fixed-effect meta-analysis across the 17 cohorts showed that Se was significantly associated with PTB and gestational duration with effect size estimates of an OR=0.95 (95% CI: 0.9 to 1.00) for PTB and 0.66 days (95% CI: 0.38 to 0.94) longer gestation per 15 ng/mL increase in Se concentration. However, there was a substantial heterogeneity among study cohorts and the random-effect meta-analysis did not achieve statistical significance. The largest effect sizes were observed in UK (Liverpool) cohort, and most significant associations were observed in samples from Malawi. Interpretation While our study observed statistically significant associations between maternal Se concentration and PTB at some sites, this did not generalise across the entire cohort. Whether population-specific factors explain the heterogeneity of our findings warrants further investigation. Further evidence is needed to understand the biologic pathways, clinical efficacy and safety, before changes to antenatal nutritional recommendations for Se supplementation are considered.

Brief report : Acute care visits vary by race and ethnicity among publicly insured preterm infants

Karvonen, K. L., Baer, R. J., Rogers, E. E., Steurer, M. A., Jelliffe-Pawlowski, L., & Pantell, M. S. (2021). (Vols. 90, Issues 4, pp. 712-716). 10.1038/s41390-021-01504-8
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Abstract
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Cannabis-related diagnosis in pregnancy and adverse maternal and infant outcomes

Bandoli, G., Jelliffe-Pawlowski, L., Schumacher, B., Baer, R. J., Felder, J. N., Fuchs, J. D., Oltman, S. P., Steurer, M. A., & Marienfeld, C. (2021). (Vols. 225). 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.108757
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Abstract
Background: Cannabis use and cannabis use disorders are increasing in prevalence, including among pregnant women. The objective was to evaluate the association of a cannabis-related diagnosis (CRD) in pregnancy and adverse maternal and infant outcomes. Methods: We queried an administrative birth cohort of singleton deliveries in California between 2011–2017 linked to maternal and infant hospital discharge records. We classified pregnancies with CRD from International Classification of Disease codes. We identified nicotine and other substance-related diagnoses (SRD) in the same manner. Outcomes of interest included maternal (hypertensive disorders) and infant (prematurity, small for gestational age, NICU admission, major structural malformations) adverse outcomes. Results: From 3,067,069 pregnancies resulting in live births, 29,112 (1.0 %) had a CRD. CRD was associated with an increased risk of all outcomes studied; the strongest risks observed were for very preterm birth (aRR 1.4, 95 % CI 1.3, 1.6) and small for gestational age (aRR 1.4, 95 % CI 1.3, 1.4). When analyzed with or without co-exposure diagnoses, CRD alone conferred increased risk for all outcomes compared to no use. The strongest effects were seen for CRD with other SRD (preterm birth aRR 2.3, 95 % CI 2.2, 2.5; very preterm birth aRR 2.6, 95 % CI 2.3, 3.0; gastrointestinal malformations aRR 2.0, 95 % CI 1.6, 2.6). The findings were generally robust to unmeasured confounding and misclassification analyses. Conclusions: CRD in pregnancy was associated with increased risk of adverse maternal and infant outcomes. Providing education and effective treatment for women with a CRD during prenatal care may improve maternal and infant health.