Perinatologist Division Director, Maternal-Fetal Medicine & Reproductive Genetics Director, Center f
Center for Maternal-Fetal Precision Medicine, University of California San Francisco
I am a Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, the Division Director of the Maternal Fetal Medicine and Reproductive Genetics Division, Chief of Obstetrics, and the Clinical Director for the Pregnancy and Cardiac Treatment Clinic at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). I received my MD from the Unviersity of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, a Masters of Science in Translational Research from the University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD in Physiology from Wayne State University.
I have been a practicing board certified Maternal Fetal Medicine physician for 13 years. I have an interest in clinical translational research regarding cervical remodeling in term and preterm labor, and my work has helped to elucidate the mechanisms of such cervical remodeling. Another major aspect of my research has been devoted to understanding how inflammation-induced preterm birth can lead to adverse fetal neurological outcomes and periviable births. I have expanded knowledge in this field through my study of these outcomes in a mouse model.
In my clinical role at UCSF, I provide care to pregnant women from a wide range of socio-demographic backgrounds, including those who only speak Spanish. I have a particular interest in fetal catheter-based procedures, such as fetal transfusions for fetal anemia due to alloimmunization and other rare etiologies. I have also been performing the in utero hematopoietic stem cell transplants in an ongoing phase I clinical trial for alpha thalassemia.
