Wendy Bennett Empowers Women and Families Through Research 

Wendy Bennett, MD, MPH, co-leads a dedicated team in the fight against health disparities alongside Kelly Bower, PHD, MSN/MPH, BS, RN. As a faculty member at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity (CHE), her focus is on obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease to reduce health disparities for high-risk populations of women and their families.  

Bennett’s current trial, Healthy for Two (H42-HV), is one of four studies in CHE’s Mid-Atlantic Center for Cardiometabolic Health Equity (MACCHE). Through this study, Bennett and her team will measure the effectiveness of a remote health coaching program tailored for pregnancy and postpartum care on postpartum weight. Through her broader partnerships with prenatal care facilities and community-based initiatives, including early home visiting programs in this trial, Bennett's team aims to democratize access to vital healthcare resources. 

“I am privileged to work with a committed, amazing team of clinicians and researchers, striving to promote patient-centered behavior change, engage communities and patients, and examine important research questions that have implications for policy makers,” Bennett says.  

The H42-HV study focuses primarily on Black and Latinx women. Because these populations have the highest prevalence of obesity, pregnant and postnatal Black and Latinx women face higher risks for gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders, and acute cardiovascular events during labor and delivery. 

“I am privileged to work with a committed, amazing team of clinicians and researchers, striving to promote patient-centered behavior change, engage communities and patients, and examine important research questions that have implications for policy makers."

                                                                                                                                          - Wendy Bennett, MD, MPH

For Bennett, the implications of this study extend far beyond reducing adverse pregnancy outcomes. She states, “because pregnant women are motivated to have a healthy baby, pregnancy provides the ideal ‘teachable moment’ to not only reduce adverse pregnancy outcomes but ultimately prevent long-term cardiometabolic disease in women and their infants.” The goal of this study is to promote healthy pregnancies and empower participants to make sustainable, healthy lifestyle changes for themselves and their families.  

Bennett believes that her work on H42-HV has the capacity to impact individual patients and their families, larger communities, and even public policy.  

“I hope that my work will identify health services and community-based solutions to address systems and patient level cardiometabolic risk and engage patients and communities to make and sustain behavior changes to improve their health and the health of their families,” Bennett says. 

The H42-HV study is currently enrolling participants who are also enrolled in partnering home-visiting sites.