1980 Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and the March of Dimes jointly sponsor “Project Alpha,” an educational program designed to explore the male perspective in teen pregnancy and to encourage young men to learn about their role in responsible childbearing. 

1981 March of Dimes-supported physicians at the University of California, San Francisco perform an operation to correct a urinary blockage in a fetus still in the womb, the first successful prenatal surgical correction of a birth defect. 

1982 Babies and You worksite prenatal health program is launched to bring prenatal education to the workplace. 

1984 March of Dimes grantee Barry Wolf of the Medical College of Virginia develops an inexpensive, reliable test to screen newborns for biotinidase deficiency, which can cause mental retardation and death unless treated promptly. 

1984 March of Dimes initiates a program to warn women that Accutane, a prescription drug for acne, may cause serious birth defects. 

1985 March of Dimes grantee Joseph L. Goldstein receives the Nobel Prize for identifying cellular cause of familial hypercholesterolemia, which permits buildup of cholesterol in the blood. 

1985 March of Dimes grantee T. Allen Merritt of the University of California, San Diego Medical Center, develops surfactant from amniotic fluid. Surfactant therapy is used to treat respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), which had accounted for over 8000 infant deaths each year. 

1987 March of Dimes grantee Ira Chasnoff of Northwestern University Medical School reports that even a single use of cocaine by a pregnant woman can cause premature delivery, birth defects, and fetal death. 

1989 March of Dimes grantee Michael Harrison of the University of California, San Francisco, performs major surgery on a fetus still in the womb to correct a potentially fatal birth defect