The Maternal Health Research Collaborative for Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs, including HBCUs – Historically Black Colleges and Universities) [Hereafter referred to as the MSI Collaborative] was launched to establish a research network that is comprised of and supports minority-serving institutions to study health disparities in maternal health outcomes. Overall US maternal mortality has increased from 7.2 per 100,000 live births in 1987 to 32.9 in 2021 with women of color experiencing a marked increase. The mortality rate among African American women (69.9 deaths) is nearly three times that of non-Hispanic White women (26.6 deaths). There are many factors driving this increase including disparities in social determinants of health, and inadequate research participation of MSIs that have a demonstrated record and historical commitment to serving underrepresented students and their communities. The MSI Collaborative is composed of sixteen Research Centers (RC) located at MSIs in the following states: AL, CA, DC, FL, GA, HI, MD, MS, NY, OH, PR, TN, and TX across the country and a Coordinating Center (CC) located at Morgan State University.

The purpose of the MSI Collaborative is to build their capacity to conduct research addressing disparities in maternal mortality, severe maternal morbidity and maternal health outcomes while engaging with communities to find relevant community-informed solutions and advancing health equity. The 16 RCs will conduct applied research to understand and address the root causes of the disparities in maternal mortality, severe maternal morbidity and maternal health outcomes by finding community-based solutions. The Coordinating Center will build the capacity of the RCs to conduct maternal health research and provide support in meeting the RCs project objectives while enhancing the RCs productivity, efficiency and public health impact. The Coordinating Center will also collect data to measure and evaluate the MSI Collaborative’s impact and effectiveness.