2020 March: March of Dimes virtualizes all offices in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time in the organization's history, the entire workforce is working remotely.
2020 March 13: The COVID-19 Intervention and Support Fund is established to address the urgent need for this research, as well as advocacy and education, to protect mom and babies from COVID-19 and its unknown future effects.
2020 April: After cancelling all in person walking events, March of Dimes launches its "Step Up" campaign. March for Babies participants are encouraged to join "virtual walks". Partnering with Charity Miles, March of Dimes returns to its fundraising roots, asking supporters to pledge a donation based on the number of miles walked.
2020 April 16: March of Dimes launches a virtual webinar series titled "Healthy Moms, Strong Babies" (VIDEO). The webinar series tackles topics ranging from health disparities, health equity, racism, implicit bias, life in the NICU, parenting during COVID and navigating pregnancy during the pandemic.
2020 April 27: March of Dimes launches a new educational campaign titled "It Starts With Mom". The campaign is a series of live virtual webinars focusing on pregnancy and maternal health and wellness. Honest Company founder and actress Jessica Alba hosted the kickoff event.
2020 May 15: March of Dimes holds the first ever National Recognition Event (VIDEO). The event (completely virtual and simultaneously broadcast to Facebook and YouTube) is hosted by Lesli Foster from CBS Television, Washington, D.C.
2020 September 23: March of Dimes releases the report, "Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts Across the U.S.", The report shines a light on the unequal access to maternity care found throughout the U.S. and highlights current research and its impact on mom and baby health.
2020 November 17: Celebrity Chef Emeril Lagasse and actress La La Anthony headline the first ever virtual Signature Chefs Feeding Motherhood Celebration. Simulcasted to Facebook and YouTube (VIDEO), the event featured Emeril teaching La La and the viewers at home one of Emeril’s very special recipes – Meril’s Pasta Nero – named in honor of his daughter and featuring his mother’s favorite food.
2021 January 12: Dr. Zsakeba Henderson is named Senior Vice President and Deputy Chief Medical and Health Officer. Dr. Henderson is a board-certified OBGYN with more than 15 years of experience managing numerous maternal and infant health initiatives, including the establishment of the National Network of Perinatal Quality Collaboratives. Previously, she served as Medical Officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention where she developed epidemiologic, programmatic and surveillance projects aimed to improve healthcare for moms and babies. She holds a medical degree from Harvard Medical School and a Bachelor of Science from Oakwood University.
2021 February 1: March of Dimes has named Dr. Michael Georgieff from the University of Minnesota as the winner of the 2020 Agnes Higgins Award for pivotal research linking iron deficiency early in life and long-term mental health. In particular, Dr. Georgieff’s uncovered basic mechanisms by which iron deficiency in newborns affects the brain’s development and can lead to lasting neurobehavioral challenges, such as poor attention and increased risk of anxiety, depression and schizophrenia.
2021 July 23: March of Dimes announced the appointment of Stacey Brayboy as Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs. Brayboy will be responsible for leading the organization’s federal and state government affairs and public policy agenda to improve health outcomes for moms and babies across the country.
2021 October 13: Researchers at the March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center at Imperial College London have developed a first-of-its-kind testing device that may help advance diagnosis and treatment of preterm birth. A study, published in Nature Communications, finds that the device can rapidly and accurately detect changes in vaginal bacteria and corresponding immune responses in pregnant women, which are associated with increased risk of preterm birth. This cost-effective test could facilitate faster clinical decision making and help improve targeted treatment strategies during pregnancy.
2021 October 26: March of Dimes announces two early career scientists as recipients of the 2021 Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Research Awards: Dr. Kok Lim Kua from Indiana University School of Medicine and Dr. Brian Kalish from The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). These annual awards support outstanding investigators just embarking on independent research careers who are committed to advancing the health of moms and babies.
2021 October 29: Former March of Dimes Chief Medical and Health Officer, Dr. Rahul Gupta is confirmed by the United States Senate in his new role as Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy for the Biden Administration.
2022 February 2: March of Dimes announces a pioneer in fetal surgery as the recipient of the 2021 Richard B. Johnston, Jr., MD Prize in Developmental Biology: Dr. Alan W. Flake, Director, Center for Fetal Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and Professor of Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. This annual award honors an outstanding scientist who has advanced the science that underlies our understanding of pregnancy, birth and prenatal development. For more than three decades, Dr. Flake has advanced fetal surgical techniques and therapies to help babies with life-threatening or devastating fetal conditions and those experiencing preterm birth.
2022 August 11: Launched "Powered on Dimes", a way to fundraise for March of Dimes through various Live Streaming platforms (Twitch, YouTube gaming, Facebook gaming). Crypotcurrency and NFTs are also now accepted as ways to give to March of Dimes.
2022 September 13: March of Dimes launches an "Innovation Fund". The Innovation Fund is a venture philanthropy initiative that will invest donated funds in early-stage companies working to address the most pressing maternal and infant health challenges.
2022 October 11: March of Dimes releases its annual Maternity Care Desert Report. The third update of the report, produced in partnership with Reckitt, shows a two percent increase in counties classified as maternity care deserts since the 2020 report, primarily driven by hospital and maternity care unit closures and loss of obstetrics providers. The data reinforces that the U.S. is still among the most dangerous developed nations for childbirth, especially in rural areas and communities of color.
2022 November 17: Dr. Elizabeth Cherot is appointed to the position of Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Cherot will lead March of Dimes’ Office of Maternal and Child Health Impact, providing strategic direction and clinical expertise across the organization to help end the maternal and infant health crisis. She will be the organization’s key physician leader in creating a unified vision and approach to improving maternal and infant health through new programs, education and advocacy. Dr. Cherot will also formulate and implement a strategy to guide programs across the country and operationalize key objectives in collaboration with partners, communities and patients.
2022 December 20: March of Dimes selects Patricia Hunt, PhD as the recipient of the 2022 Richard B. Johnston, Jr., MD Prize in Developmental Biology. Dr. Hunt is a Regents Professor at Washington State University who has made instrumental discoveries in how prenatal development is impacted by aging, mistakes in cell division, and environmental exposures.
2022 November 18: President Stacey D. Stewart steps down as President and CEO after leading the organization for the past six years.
2023 January: March of Dimes celebrates its 85th anniversary.
2023 January 3: March of Dimes announces the launch of the inaugural March of Dimes Research Center for Advancing Maternal Health Equity. The new Center, based at the University of Pennsylvania, will address poor health outcomes and longstanding racial disparities that make the U.S. among the most dangerous developed nations for childbirth.
2023 July 6 (staff announcement) July 10 (official announcement): Dr. Elizabeth Cherot named President and CEO of March of Dimes.
2024 January 18: March of Dimes awards Marisa Bartolomei, PhD, as the recipient of the 2024 March of Dimes Richard B. Johnston, Jr., MD Prize. This annual award honors an outstanding scientist who has advanced the science that underlies our understanding of pregnancy, birth, and prenatal development. Dr. Bartolomei is a Co-Director of the Epigenetics Institute at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, where she is also the Perelman Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology.
2024 Feburary 20: March of Dimes awards the Agnes Higgins Award in Maternal-Fetal Nutrition to Dr. Villar, a Professor of Perinatal Medicine at Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Women’s and Reproductive Health and the former Coordinator of Maternal and Perinatal Health at the World Health Organization (WHO). Dr. Villar has spent more than a half century researching the effect of maternal nutrition on the health, growth, and development of babies.
2024 May 1: March of Dimes launches Low Dose, Big Benefits, a multi-year campaign aimed at decreasing the adverse effects of preeclampsia and preterm birth through the use of low dose aspirin.
2024 July 3: Dr. Elizabeth Cherot resigns from her position of President and CEO.
2024 August 27: Cindy Rahman is appointed as Interim CEO. Dr. Amanda Williams is appointed as Interim CMO.
2025 January 21: March of Dimes awards the Agnes Higgins Award in Maternal-Fetal Nutrition to Dr. Kimberly O’Brien for research on iron, vitamin D, and calcium in pregnancy, advancing maternal-fetal nutrition and health.
2025 February 6: Cindy Rahman is appointed as President and CEO.
2025 March 31: March of Dimes awards Dr. Dennis Lo, PhD, with the 2025 March of Dimes Richard B. Johnston, Jr., MD Prize. Known as the “father of noninvasive prenatal testing,” Dr. Lo’s 1997 discovery of fetal DNA in maternal blood led to a safer, more accurate screening method for conditions like Down syndrome. His work has given millions of families access to critical prenatal health insights, improving care for mothers and babies worldwide.
