Member Faculty
If you have clinical or research interests in maternal and child health, and are interested in becoming a faculty member, please email PerinatalDiscovery@health.ucsd.edu for more information.
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Omonigho Aisagbonhi, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Pathology
Research Interests: Gynecologic and perinatal pathology, post-partum preeclampsia
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Professor
Division of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences
Research Interests: The impact of pregnancy, birth injury, and aging on the structure, function, plasticity, and regenerative potential of the female pelvic soft tissues
https://alperinlab.org/ -
Associate Professor
Division of Family Planning
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences
Research Interests: Postpartum contraception and effects of contraceptive hormones on breastfeeding
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Assistant Professor
Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science
Research Interests: Placenta accreta spectrum, treatment of substance use disorders in pregnancy
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Professor
Director of Clinical Flow Cytometry, Diagnostic Immunology, and Stem Cell Processing Labs
Department of Pathology
Research Interests: Innate immunity in cancer, infection, and pregnancy
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Assistant Professor
Department of NeurosciencesResearch Interests: Neurodevelopment, Perinatal exposures, Neurodevelopmental disorders, Oxidative stress
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Assistant Professor
Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health
Department of MedicineResearch Interests: Emerging viruses, viral-host interactions, genomics, systems biology
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Professor
Department of Nanoengineering
Research Interests: 3D bioprinting and placenta-on-a-chip
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Professor
Department of Bioengineering
Associate Dean for Faculty, Jacobs School of Engineering
Research Interests: Biomaterials for women's health
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Assistant Professor
Departments of Bioengineering and Radiology
Research Interests: Developing novel cardiopulmonary imaging techniques for advanced evaluation of pathophysiology
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Heidi Cook-Andersen, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Departments of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, and Biological Sciences
Research Interests: Oocyte and embryo development and reprogramming
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Assistant Professor
Department of PediatricsResearch Interests: Neuroimmunology, innate immune system in neurodevelopment, stem cell modeling of neurodevelopmental disorders
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Henshaw Chair, Director of Reproductive Sciences
San Diego Zoo Global
Research Interests: Assisted reproductive technology including artificial insemination, embryo transfer, reproductive cycle manipulation; Gamete collection, evaluation, and cryopreservation; In vitro embryo production; Estrous cycle and pregnancy monitoring through hormone analysis, ultrasound, infrared thermal imaging
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Assistant Professor of Environmental Health
San Diego State University.
Research Interests: Reproductive and placental toxicology; studying exposures to environmental and occupational pollutants during pregnancy leading to elevated risk of developing adverse birth outcomes -
Assistant Professor
Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive SciencesResearch Interests: Molecular mechanisms underlying pregnancy disorders and exposures, translational genomics and computational biology
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Associate Professor
Department of Bioengineering
Research Interests: Technology development for diagnostics, screening, and surveillance of perinatal infectious diseases
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Professor
Department of Pathology
Research Interests: Glycoproteins and glycolipids in mammalian and sexual reproduction
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Cynthia Gyamfi-Bannerman, M.D., M.S.
Samuel Yen Endowed Chair and Professor
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive SciencesResearch Interests: Preterm birth (prediction and prevention), antenatal corticosteroids, health disparities, and infectious diseases as they relate to pregnancy
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Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine
Research Interests: Epigenomic mechanisms of disease
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Associate Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Research Interests: Biosensors and technology development
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Scott Harvey, M.D., M.S., FACOG
Associate Clinical ProfessorHospitalist DivisionDepartment of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences
Research Interests: Obstetrics and Critical Care -
Professor
Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health
Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine
Research Interests: Immunometabolism and biomarkers, Psychosocial risk factors and outcomes, Women’s health through the life course -
Assistant Professor
Department of Pathology
Research Interests: Understanding pregnancy disorders using a combination of iPSC-based models, clinical data analysis, and RNA profiling
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Assistant Professor
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences
Research Interests: Perinatal Epidemiology
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Assistant Professor of Medicine
Division of Regenerative Medicine
Research Interests: RNA modifications and RNA binding proteins in innate immune response, normal stem cell development, and cancer stem cell of pediatric cancer and ovarian cancer
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Associate Professor
Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests: Newborn medicine and pediatric quality of care
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Professor
Division of Pediatric Endocrinology
Department of PediatricsResearch Interests: Pediatric diabetes; glucose and insulin metabolism in childhood
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Jessica Kingston, M.D.
ProfessorDepartment of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences
Research Interests: perinatal mental health, cervical dysplasia -
Scientist
San Diego Zoo Wildlife AllianceResearch Interests: Conservation, endangered species stem cells, in vitro gametogenesis, in vitro embryo modeling, and genetic rescue
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Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology
Director, Women's Health Center of Excellence
Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science
Research Interests: Epidemiology of women’s health across the life course
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Daphne Yvette Lacoursiere, M.D., M.P.H.
Professor
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science
Research Interest: Impact of obesity in pregnancy, bladder health in women
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Associate Professor
Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science
Research Interests: Biomarkers in Preeclampsia and Fetal Imaging
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Michelle Leff, M.D., I.B.C.L.C., F.A.A.P.
Professor
Division of Academic General Pediatrics, Newborn Medicine and Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics
Department of PediatricsResearch Interests: Breastmilk and breastfeeding, neonatal abstinence syndrome, late preterm infants
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Assistant Professor
Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests: Impact of preterm microbiome on development of allergies and asthma, stem-cell based modeling of lung and brain development, surfactant biology
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Professor
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences
Research Interests: Mucosal glycobiology and the female urogenital microbiome
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Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Research Interests: Biomedical devices and systems, microfluidics, biophotonics
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Professor
Division of Pediatric Pathology
Department of Pathology
Chief of Pathology, Rady Children's Hospital
Research Interests: Congenital neuromuscular disorders
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Program Director, Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship Program
Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Divisions of Neonatology and Palliative Medicine
Research Interests: Perinatal palliative care and bereavement
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Associate Professor
Department of Pathology
Research Interests: T cell development and function in transplantation and immunologic tolerance
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Priyadarshini (Priya) Pantham, Ph.D.
Assistant ProfessorDepartment of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences
Research Interests: Applying systems biology approaches to understand placental function in pregnancy disorders such as preeclampsia
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Betty Pham, M.D., M.S.
Assistant Professor
Division of Neonatology
Research Interests: Genetic basis of neonatal pulmonary hypertension, developmental lung vascular biology, and lung development -
Professor
Department of Psychiatry
Research Interests: Rodent models of neurodevelopmental disorders
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Rebecca Rakow-Penner, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Radiology
Research Interests: Advanced MRI techniques for breast, female pelvis, and fetal imaging
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Professor
Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences
Research Interests: Diabetes in pregnancy
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Kyung (Kay) Rhee, M.D., M.Sc., M.A.
Professor of Pediatrics,
Medical Director, Medical Behavioral Unit, Rady Children's Hospital of San Diego
Director of Research, Division of Hospital Medicine
Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests: Novel treatments for pediatric obesity, parenting styles and feeding behaviors, child eating behaviors and cognitive development
https://chear.ucsd.edu/ -
Associate Professor
Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests: lung immunity, innate immune system development, lung development, hyperoxia-induced injury, epigenomic mechanisms of disease
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Ina Stelzer, Ph.D., M.Sc.
Assistant Professor
Department of Pathology
Director of Reproductive Immunology for the Center for Perinatal DiscoveryResearch Interests: Reproductive Immunology, Systems Immunology, Neuroimmunology, Brain-Body Interaction, Preterm Birth Prediction, Maternal Perinatal Health, Computational Biology
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Professor
Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests: Gestational diabetes and fetal programming
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Assistant Professor
Department of Pathology
Research Interests: Trophoblast lineage specification and establishment of the maternal-fetal interface
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Raymond Suhandynata, Ph.D., DABCC (CC)
Assistant Professor
Division of Laboratory and Genomic Medicine
Department of Pathology
Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Research Interests: Applications of mass spectrometry in the clinical laboratory. Clinical chemistry, clinical toxicology, and clinical proteomics. Therapeutic drug monitoring and biomarker discovery/validation
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Professor
Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science
Research Interests: Quality improvement and maternal cardiovascular disorders
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E. Nicole Teal
Assistant Professor
Division of Maternal-Fetal MedicineNIH Women’s Reproductive Health Research ScholarDepartment of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences
Research Interests: Maternal health, birth equity, respectful maternity care, community engaged implementation science, community-based participatory research -
Varykina (Kina) Thackray, Ph.D.
ProfessorDivision of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences
Research Interests: Host/microbe interactions related to sex differences, steroid hormone excess/insufficiency and metabolic dysregulation -
Professor
Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science
Research Interests: Management of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, Investigation of placental growth factors for prediction and diagnosis of preeclampsia
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Xinlian Zhang
Assistant ProfessorHerbert Wertheim School of Public Health, Biostatistics
Research Interests: Statistical approaches to the ultra-large-scale data and their properties; Flexible semi- and non- parametric methods for complex and high-dimensional data -
Associate Professor
Department of Psychiatry
Research Interests: Cognitive/behavioral impact of environments linked to psychiatric risk factors