Written by Kim Furlow, communications manager for the Institute for Public Health
Zainab Mahmoud, MD, MS
Instructor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology
Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
Zainab Mahmoud, MD, MS is passionate about helping reduce the number of women who die in or around the time of childbirth. Nigeria and other countries with a high rate of maternal deaths, including the United States where maternal mortality rates are rising, may be able to benefit from her research. She hopes to leverage her relationship with the Global Health Center to build more partnerships and expand her research networks.
Mahmoud’s current project, “Implementation and evaluation of diagnosis, treatment, and control of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in Nigeria”, is funded by an American College of Cardiology, Association of Black Cardiologists, Merck Foundation fellowship. Her research seeks to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality in Nigeria by adapting, implementing, and evaluating evidence-based strategies used in the U.S., such as home blood pressure monitoring and post-partum risk assessments, in collaboration with the University of Abuja and University of Abuja Teaching Hospital.
“Our long-term objective is to implement a feasible and acceptable evidence-based cardio-obstetrics service, which can serve as a model to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality across Nigeria and other countries with high maternal mortality rates,” said Mahmoud.
Mahmoud first encountered the Global Health Center team, Victor Dávila Román, MD, director, and Jacaranda van Rheenen, PhD, manager, when she mentored students in the Global Health Mentoring program. Since then, she also met and collaborated with new Global Health Center co-Director, Mark Huffman, MD, MPH and other researchers working in global health. “These have become some of the most impactful connections in shaping my career,” she said. “Global health research would be impossible without these mentorships and collaborations.“
Mahmoud says others who have global health-related interests or research should consider engaging with the center, “There is a lot to learn and many incredible people to meet.” Find out more here.