Senior Investigator
Kaiser Permanente Northern California
Assiamira Ferrara, MD, PhD is a Senior Research Scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. Dr. Ferrara is internationally recognized for her expertise in gestational diabetes (GDM) and obesity during pregnancy, and her research interests focus on preventing the adverse effects of these conditions on women’s and children’s health.
Her primary focus has been the epidemiology of and translational research related to diabetes and GDM. Dr. Ferrara and colleagues have adapted the National Diabetes Prevention Program to be delivered by telehealth in women with GDM as well as pregnant women with overweight or obesity during the prenatal and postpartum periods to achieve weight management and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. Dr. Ferrara also conducts cohort studies of pregnant women and their offspring to identify early risk factors for diabetes and obesity. She is the contact principal investigator at Kaiser Permanente of the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program, a National Institutes of Health initiative. Dr. Ferrara’s life course approach to diabetes and obesity prevention is aimed in reducing the risk factors for these chronic conditions early in life. In recognition of her research on these topics, Dr. Ferrara was presented the 2019 American Diabetes Association’s Norbert Freinkel Lecture.
