Pamela Kling, MD, was recently awarded $23,500 for her project, “Iron Status Linking Obesity During Pregnancy and Asthma in Offspring” from the Meriter Foundation. Obesity complicates 30% of pregnancies and predisposes to greater prevalence of both iron deficiency and asthma in offspring. This study will focus on the link between obesity, iron deficiency and asthma, three diseases with a major impact on health care utilization, by studying inflammatory cells in umbilical cord blood after obese pregnancy.