Maternal and Child Health Leadership Lab

To apply and participate, you must be a current student at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and must commit to completing the MCH concentration requirements. Additionally, the MCH Center of Excellence coordinates monthly meetings for the Leadership Lab, including alumni networking events, workshops in leadership skills, and mentorship opportunities. Admitted students are required to participate in these events.

Non-U.S. Citizen Student Guidance: If you apply for a project that is Harvard-affiliated, you do not need to receive special work authorization. If you apply for any of the other external projects, you will need to obtain the Curricular Practical Training authorization for the work. Please reach out to your HIO contact to confirm that you can obtain this authorization, and we are here to support any student that wishes to do so! Please email mchconcentration@hsph.harvard.edu for assistance.

The MCH Leadership Lab application opens each fall on our website and requires applicants to complete short essays and rank their project preferences. Project presentations from our partners occur within the first few weeks of the fall semester, during the MCH Seminar (SBS 360).

Students are typically matched with a maternal and child health (MCH)-related research or practice opportunity with one of our community partners. Students with their own MCH projects are encouraged to apply as well.

Eligible students admitted to the MCH Leadership Lab receive partial tuition support for their participation. Students who are fully funded by the School (i.e., through scholarships or grants) may still apply, though they will not be eligible for additional funding.

The MCH Leadership Lab aims to engage and train emerging leaders who are passionate about MCH-related issues, research, and topics. The Center’s goal is for all Leadership Lab students to maximize this opportunity by actively participating in Lab events, attending MCH-sponsored webinars and seminars, and building a strong network with fellow MCH students.

Belfort Neonatology Lab | Brigham and Women’s Hospital

The Newborn Nutrition Lab is part of the Division of Newborn Medicine within the Mass General Brigham Department of Pediatrics. Their research focuses on interventions to improve nutritional care, assessment, and related outcomes for very preterm-born infants. They also study the composition of human milk including nutrients and non-nutrient bioactive factors and their health benefits for the infant. The student will undertake a data analysis project using existing data from one of the Lab’s ongoing studies.

Ariadne Labs

Ariadne Labs is a joint center for health systems innovation at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Ariadne Labs develops, tests, and supports the implementation of practical solutions designed to improve the quality and safety of health care at scale. Its work focuses on translating evidence into tools, care models, and implementation strategies that can be integrated into routine health systems. There are three projects with Ariadne Labs:

LIFT-UP: The LIFT-UP study is a multi-objective, multi-country research initiative in India, Malawi, and Tanzania designed to improve feeding and growth outcomes among low birthweight and/or preterm infants in low-resource settings. The student will support the preparation of completed LIFT-UP data and program materials for final analysis, documentation, and dissemination.

BetterBirth: Ariadne Labs’s BetterBirth Program is focused on ensuring better health and well-being for women, newborns, and infants by improving quality and standards of care, minimizing complications, and ending preventable deaths. Two current areas of work that the student will support include “Extreme Heat Impact on Birth Outcomes” and “Safe Childbirth Checklist Scale-up in Brazil and India.”

TeamBirth: The TeamBirth program at Ariadne Labs is the primary endeavor of the Delivery Decisions Initiative (DDI), one of the maternal health-focused teams at Ariadne. TeamBirth’s aim is to foster process innovation for clinical safety, effective communication, and dignity in childbirth through patient centered health care. The student will create a case study on TeamBirth implementation in Westchester County, NY.

Massachusetts Department of Public Health

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH), Division of Pregnancy, Infancy and Early Childhood, is working to strengthen the Commonwealth’s approach to perinatal mental health. Through a new state investment, the Division is beginning a planning process to identify priorities for improving prevention, screening, referral, treatment, and recovery for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs). The student will support the planning phase of this initiative.

MassHealth (Begins January 2027)

MassHealth is Massachusetts’ Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program covering nearly 40% of births (roughly 25,000 births per year) in MA. The project will support MassHealth’s perinatal and maternal health efforts.

Rhode Island Department of Health

The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH), Division of Community Health & Equity works to improve the health and well-being of all Rhode Islanders by advancing evidence-based public health programs, reducing health disparities, and promoting health equity. The student will support implementation of the Statewide Breastfeeding Strategic Plan to increase breastfeeding rates and tackle breastfeeding inequities in the state of RI through strategies inclusive of communications, policy change, education, etc.

Birth Beyond Bars

Birth Beyond Bars is a birth cohort of children exposed prenatally to maternal incarceration and their families. Currently, 105 children are enrolled and followed until their third birthday. This project will use mixed methods to look longitudinally at social service enrollment (WIC, SNAP, TANF, Medicaid), any churn in social service enrollment (i.e. losing and regaining benefits) and experiences around enrolling and retaining benefits.

SteelSky Ventures

SteelSky Ventures is a leading technology venture fund investing in transformative healthcare companies that improve access, care, and outcomes, with a particular focus on women’s health, aging populations, and technology-enabled care. The student will support SteelSky’s investment team by researching and landscaping innovative startup companies across underserved, high-impact areas of healthcare, including women’s health, pediatrics, geriatrics, and adjacent sectors. A second component will focus on AI development.

The Basics, Inc.

The Basics is a community-level, cross-sector approach to supporting early childhood parenting, implemented locally in Boston and in dozens of communities across the U.S. The student will draft two or more “Playbooks” – mini case studies – of how The Basics is integrated into programming and services for families with young children (prenatal through age 5).

Center for Maternal Health Innovation, Research, & Action

The Center for Maternal Health Research, Innovation and Action (MIRA) is a research center dedicated to improving maternal and child health outcomes through solution-oriented, evidence-driven research. MIRA brings together academics, clinicians, public health leaders, community organizations, and policymakers to make informed decisions to better support pregnant and postpartum individuals. The student will support research related to Medicaid services for high-risk pregnancies in Massachusetts, specifically for those that involve hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), including gestational hypertension and preeclampsia.

National Center for Unexpected Infant & Child Death

The National Center for Unexpected Infant & Child Death supports families and professionals through the enormously painful and overwhelming aftermath following the death of a child or loss in pregnancy. This project centers around the research and creation of state-by-state systems guides that can inform families and professionals about the various entities that become involved upon the death of a child, namely law enforcement, child welfare, forensic pathologists, and the judicial system.

Optio

Optio is a women-led, regionally grounded organization advancing reproductive justice across Central America and the Caribbean. Through a comprehensive strategy that integrates strategic litigation, capacity building, policy advocacy, and access to essential healthcare, Optio works to dismantle systemic barriers that prevent women and girls from exercising their sexual and reproductive rights. The student would support the launching of the Global Legal Network for Reproductive Justice to connect lawyers and advocates from across the world to share strategies and approaches to shift policies in favor of women’s health and rights.

FIRST Steps Together (Massachusetts Department of Public Health)

FIRST Steps Together – Families in Recovery Support is an evidence-informed, Massachusetts-developed, peer-staffed home visiting program for expectant parents, and parents with a child aged 5 or younger, with opioid and stimulant use disorders. The student will support the development of project management workflows and standardized policies and procedures for the program.