UCSD - University of California - San Diego

06/23/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/23/2026 14:51

UC San Diego Researchers Receive ARPA-H Award to Make Birth Safer

Published Date

June 23, 2026

Article Content

The United States has the highest rate of maternal and infant morbidity and mortality of any wealthy country. Researchers in obstetrics and engineering at the University of California San Diego were awarded up to $10.4 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to enable more accurate identification of fetuses who are at risk of low oxygen during labor, as part of a larger effort to make birth safer in the U.S.

The research team will develop a risk assessment test that will give pregnant patients and their health providers an objective result that indicates whether the fetus has a higher than normal risk of experiencing low oxygen levels - a condition known as fetal hypoxia - during labor. This critical information will help care providers make informed decisions during labor and delivery, with the ultimate goal of improving birth outcomes for both mothers and babies.

To get this accurate picture of a baby's risk of hypoxia, the UC San Diego team will identify biomarkers in the mother's blood that reflect placental dysfunction, placental or fetal hypoxia, or fetal stress related to low oxygen levels, and develop a point-of-care test to detect these biomarkers from a small maternal blood sample in just 30 minutes. This information will be used by care providers to make data-informed recommendations for intervention, if necessary.

This point-of-care test will first be used in a hospital setting, but the researchers say it could one day be expanded to prenatal visits in the clinic during the final month of pregnancy, or even to birth centers or home birth midwives, enabling birth providers of all kinds to have more accurate, real-time information about the health of the mother-baby pair.

The ARPA-H funding is provided through the agency's recently launched Making Obstetrics Care Smart (MOCS) program, which aims to use advanced diagnostics and breakthrough technology to make births safer.

The researchers will design silicon chips to detect specific biomarkers from a small maternal blood sample, and create a handheld device that allows care providers to quickly obtain results at the point of care.

Making Birth Smarter

The UC San Diego research team is co-led by Drew Hall, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the Jacobs School of Engineering, and Louise Laurent, MD, PhD, professor and co-director of the Center for OB/GYN Research Innovation at the UC San Diego School of Medicine Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, & Reproductive Sciences. The researchers will collaborate with women's health diagnostic company Sera Prognostics, and advanced semiconductor firm Allegro MicroSystems.

"Our goal is to provide a more objective evaluation about the level of risk for each mom-baby pair going into labor," said Laurent, a maternal-fetal medicine physician at UC San Diego Health. "This will help care providers at all levels have a better understanding of the resources needed for each particular patient, and remove some of the subjectivity from labor and birth decisions as care providers work to ensure the safest, best outcomes for both mom and baby."

The research team will first identify the most accurate set of biomarkers that are predictive of fetal hypoxia. These biomarkers could be microRNAs, proteins, or nanoparticles called extracellular vesicles (EVs). Levels of EVs from the placenta have been shown to be twice as high in patients with preeclampsia than those without; preeclampsia is associated with placental dysfunction and is one of the clinical risk factors for fetal hypoxia. Laurent's lab, which specializes in RNA biomarker discovery, and diagnostic industry partner Sera, which specializes in protein biomarkers, together will identify and validate the most accurate biomarker panel.

Hall will partner with magnetic sensing leader Allegro MicroSystems to develop a point-of-care test for measuring these biomarkers from a small maternal blood sample. The platform leverages Allegro's fully integrated giant magnetoresistive (GMR) semiconductor technology, adapting their magnetic technology for high-speed, high-resolution biosensing. The research team's goal is to create a handheld device that allows care providers to quickly obtain results at the point of care.

The researchers will also develop a machine learning model that integrates the biomarker measurements into an overall fetal hypoxia risk score.

"Rather than asking clinicians to interpret several biomarker measurements separately, we want to use machine learning to combine those results into a single, easy-to-understand risk score," said Hall. "The goal is to integrate information from each biomarker in a standardized way, so care teams can more quickly identify pregnancies that may need closer monitoring or intervention."

This accurate, near-real-time information will help clinicians act quickly when needed, and simultaneously reduce unnecessary birth interventions.

"Our goal is to equip both the care team and the family with as much accurate, useful information as possible to make the smartest, safest decisions for mom and baby," said Laurent.

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