E-Mail Credit: WEHI, Australia A Melbourne-led research consortium investigating the impact of iron treatments on maternal and newborn health in low-income countries has received two major grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation worth almost $US 9.6 million. The funding, awarded in 2020, will support major clinical trials in Malawi, South Asia, Africa and Bangladesh, investigating whether intravenous iron treatment given to women in pregnancy improves the physical and psychological health of mothers, and the growth and brain development of their babies. The study will also address whether intravenous iron supplements impact mother-baby bonding and breastfeeding rates. The project is led by WEHI researcher Associate Professor Sant-Rayn Pasricha, who also leads the Collaborating Centre for Anaemia Detection and Control at WEHI and is a haematologist at The Royal Melbourne Hospital. It also involves researchers from the University of Malawi College of Medicine, the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), the University of Melbourne's School of Population and Global Health and School of Psychological Sciences, and Doherty Institute, and Monash University's School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.