 The key findings of the iHMP were published in 2019.The Vaginal Microbiome Consortium team at Virginia Commonwealth University led research on the Pregnancy & Preterm Birth project with a goal of understanding how the microbiome changes during the gestational period and influences the neonatal microbiome.The project was also concerned with the role of the microbiome in the occurrence of preterm births, which, according to the CDC, account for nearly 10% of all births and constitutes the second leading cause of neonatal death.