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Courtney Schreiber Wins International Prize for Pregnancy Research
Cited for Driving Changes in Early Pregnancy Loss Care Guidelines
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LDI Senior Fellow and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Perelman School of Medicine Courtney Schreiber, MD, MPH, has won the 2026 BioInnovation Institute & Science Translational Medicine Prize for Innovations in Women’s Health.
In its announcement, BioInnovation Institute (BII) cited Schreiber’s “groundbreaking work in redefining clinical care and testing for women experiencing early pregnancy loss, an area long overlooked by the scientific and medical establishment.” Her work was also credited with driving policy changes in early pregnancy loss care guidelines for women in both North America and Europe.
Innovative Advances
The annual prize, co-sponsored by BII and the journal Science Translational Medicine, recognizes researchers who have developed innovative advances with translational potential in areas of women’s health, including maternal health, chronic gynecological diseases, reproductive health, and other conditions that affect women differently or disproportionately.
In an accompanying essay published in the April edition of Science Translational Medicine, Schreiber wrote: “Each year, early pregnancy loss affects more than one million women in the United States and occurs more than 42 million times worldwide. Otherwise known as miscarriage, science rarely asks about it, prenatal care is not set up to address it, and people don’t think of it — until it happens to them. Our studies have shown that the typical care experience for a patient with pregnancy loss has been frustrating, not patient-centered, and guided by tradition instead of innovation.”
The clinical term “early pregnancy loss” refers to a miscarriage occurring in the first trimester, typically up to 12 or 13 weeks. “Miscarriage” is the broader medical term for pregnancy loss before 20 weeks and includes early pregnancy loss as a subset.
Established in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2018, the BioInnovation Institute is an international life science incubator and nonprofit foundation funded by Novo Nordisk to bridge the gap between academic research and the commercial market.
Recognizing Pioneers
BioInnovation Institute CEO Jens Nielsen said, “For far too long, women’s health has been underprioritized in both research and innovation. Recognizing pioneers like Courtney Schreiber is not just important; it’s necessary to drive change in a historically neglected field.”
Schreiber is also the Chief of the Division of Family Planning at Perelman and Founding Director of PEACE, the Pregnancy Early Access Center at Penn Medicine.
The award, which Schreiber will receive at an April 14 BII ceremony in Denmark, comes with a $25,000 cash prize.
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