John Myers, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics co-authored the article, “Maternal immunization with tetanus–diphtheria–pertussis vaccine: effect on maternal and neonatal serum antibody levels” with Stanley Gall, MD, and Michael Pichichero, MD, School of Medicine, UofL. The article was published on Jan. 26, 2011 in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology as an E-publication ahead of the print version. The study found that administering Tdap during pregnancy increases antibody titers against diphtheria and pertussis antigens and that maternal Tdap has the potential to reduce the rate of neonatal pertussis infection. This new finding is likely to impact the way in which obstetricians think about protecting newborns against Pertussis (Whooping cough), as well as the maternal immunization schedule. This was the first study to demonstrate that providing maternal immunization dramatically increases the newborn's antibodies against this life-threatening infection.