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Claire Margerison-Zilko

Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Michigan State University
Chapter Member: Michigan SSN

About Claire

Margerison’s research focuses on understanding the drivers of racial and socioeconomic disparities in women’s health across the life span; with a particular focus on pregnancy. For example; black women are one and a half to two times more likely to deliver infants preterm or at low birth weight compared to white women; and their infants are twice as likely to die in the first year of life—disparities that have persisted for decades with little to no improvement. She examines how the social and economic context of women’s lives influences their health prior to; during; and after pregnancy. Her teaching and mentoring also focuses on training the next generation of scholars devoted to understanding and reducing disparities in women’s health.

In the News

Guest on Press Play with Madeleine Brand, June 17, 2019.
Research discussed by Kate Wells, in "Study: Overdose, Suicide among Biggest Causes of Death for New Moms ," Michigan Radio, June 12, 2019.
Quoted by Susan Scutti in "Here's How the Great Recession Impacted Your health," CNN, March 12, 2018.

Publications

"Pregnancy-Associated Deaths Due to Drugs, Suicide, and Homicide in the United States, 2010-2019" (with Sidra Goldman-Mellor, Meaghan Roberts, and Alison Gemmil). Obstetrics and Gynecology 139, no. 2 (2022): 172-180.

Discovers that deaths due to drug use, suicide, and homicide constitute more than one-fifth of all deaths during pregnancy and the first year postpartum. Reveals substantial racial and ethnic inequities in these deaths exist.

"Maternal Drug-Related Death and Suicide Are Leading Causes of Postpartum Death in California" (with Sidra Goldman-Mellor). American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 5 (2019).

Argues that deaths caused by drugs and suicide are a major contributor to mortality in the postpartum period and warrant increased clinical attention, including recognition by physicians and Maternal Mortality Review Committees as a medical cause of death. Mentions importantly, emergency department and inpatient hospital visits may serve as a point of identification of, and eventually prevention for, women at risk for these deaths.