Medical Board
Medical Board
Ask the Expert

 

Dr. Thomas R. Easterling
Dr. Easterling received his MD from University of North Carolina Medical School. He is a national expert in the field of hypertension in pregnancy. A professor at the University of Washington Medical School joining the staff in 1985, Dr. Easterling has received numerous awards including: the Young Investigator's Award of the International Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy, the Society Award for the Society of Perinatal Obstetricians for research on the hemodynamics of preeclampsia, and was honored by the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology for conducting one of the four most significant studies of 1999 regarding early antihypertensive treatment to prevent preeclampsia. He and his team at the University of Washington are members of the NIH-sponsored Obstetrical Pharmacological Research Unit network investigating the use of medications in pregnancy. Dr. Easterling continues an active clinical and research practice at the University of Washington and is a co-founder of the Preeclampsia Foundation.
 
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Dr. Phyllis August
Since 1996, Dr. August has been the Chief of the Division of Hypertension, Cardiovascular Center and a professor of medicine at Cornell University’s Weill Medical College. A 1977 graduate of the Yale Medical School, she did her residency in internal medicine and her fellowship in nephrology and hypertension at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. She is also a practicing physician who brings much clinical evidence to her study of hypertension in pregnancy.
 
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Dr. Peter von Dadelszen
Peter von Dadelszen, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology (Maternal-Fetal Medicine) at the University of British Columbia and a consulting perinatologist at Children's and Women’s Health Centre of British Columbia (CWHCBC)

A New Zealander, Dr. von Dadelszen studied medicine at the University of Otago, Dunedin, where he also did his postgraduate work. He continued his specialty training in the United Kingdom, studying under Professor Chris Redman at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and later in Toronto where he completed his fellowship in maternal-fetal medicine.

His appointment at the University of British Columbia (UBC) is that of a clinician-scientist, with 60% of his time dedicated to his research interests in preeclampsia and pregnancy hypertension, from basic science to clinical epidemiology. He is currently investigating the mechanisms involved in the development of preeclampsia, as well as a possible disease-modifying therapy.

Dr. von Dadelszen is currently the President of the North American Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy (NASSHP) and the President of ERIPED (Equipede Recherché Interdisciplinaire sur la Pre-Eclamspie et ses Determinants), Canada’s preeclampsia research alliance.

Peter is married to Laura Magee, an obstetric and general internist at UBC and CWHCBC. They share the leadership of the pregnancy hypertension research group at CWHCBC.
 
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Dr. Ananth Karumanchi
S. Ananth Karumanchi is Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an attending physician in the Nephrology and Molecular and Vascular Medicine Divisions at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He holds a second appointment as a Senior Scientist with the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He received his M.D. from the University of Madras, Chennai, India. He is a recipient of the Carl W. Gottschalk Research Scholar Award from the American Society of Nephrology, the Hope Award from the Preeclampsia Foundation, the Young Scholar Award from the American Society of Hypertension, and recently (October, 2007) named a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator.
 
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Dr. Marshall Lindheimer
Dr Lindheimer, a board certified internist and nephrologist, is a Professor emeritus in the departments of medicine and obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Chicago, where he currently chairs the advisory board of its NIH-funded General Clinical Research Center. His clinical interests focus on the management of pregnant women with kidney disease and hypertension, while his research career has stressed renal physiology, volume homeostasis, and blood pressure control in normal and abnormal pregnancy. He is also a consultant to the World Health Organization participating in their Global Program to Conquer Preeclampsia, and advising them in the areas of clinical trials and the implementation of best care policies in developing nations.  Dr Lindheimer is one of the founders of the International Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy, and has served both as its secretary-treasurer and president. His 350 plus publications include seminal basic science observations, clinical studies, numerous text chapters and author- or editorship of seven texts, including the most recent editions of Chesley's Hypertensive Disorders in Pregnancy, and Barron & Lindheimer's Medical Disorders During Pregnancy. Dr Lindheimer is a recipient of the Chesley Award for Research in Hypertension in Pregnancy.
 
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Dr. James N. Martin, Jr.
Dr. Martin is a professor of OBGYN, Director of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, and Chief of Obstetrics for the Wiser Hospital for Women and Infants at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. His clinical expertise lies in the management of complicated pregnancies, particularly related to hypertensive disorders. Dr. Martin is the author of more than 400 scientific communications, many which address issues related to preeclampsia-eclampsia and atypical forms of this disease such as HELLP syndrome. He is one of the founders and a past president of The North American Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy, is past president of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, and is Secretary of ACOG National. His research in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy began during his residency training at the University of North Carolina Hospitals and continued while completing a fellowship in maternal-fetal medicine at Texas Southwestern/Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas.

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Dr. Suzanne Oparil
Suzanne Oparil, MD, is Professor of Medicine and of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham, where she is also Director of the Vascular Biology and Hypertension Program.

Dr Oparil received her medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, New York, where she was first in her class. She completed her residency at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital and a fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

She is the current President of the American Society of Hypertension, a past-President of the American Heart Association (and still an active volunteer at both the national and affiliate levels), and the first woman past-President of the American Federation for Medical Research. She also has leadership roles in the Association of American Physicians, American Society for Clinical Investigation, Southern Society for Clinical Investigation, American Physiological Society, Clinical Physiology Advisory Committee, and Inter-American Society of Hypertension.

Dr Oparil has a career interest in the fundamental mechanisms of cardiovascular disease and in using the information to develop novel treatments. Just one example is her research that led to the development of the ACE inhibitors, the most commonly used class of drugs for the treatment of high blood pressure and heart failure.

Dr Oparil is author and coauthor of more than 1,000 abstracts, book chapters, and journal articles in Circulation, New England Journal of Medicine, and American Journal of Hypertension, among others.
 
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Dr. Robert W. Powers
Dr. Powers is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at the University of Pittsburgh, and an Assistant Investigator at the Magee-Womens Research Institute. Dr. Powers also holds secondary appointments in the Departments of Cell Biology and Physiology, and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Powers received his PhD in Developmental Biology from the University of Cincinnati, and did his post-doctoral training with Dr. James Roberts at the University of Pittsburgh and the Magee-Womens Research Institute. Dr. Powers has been involved in preeclampsia research for the past 14 years, and is currently a principle investigator of the only Program Project Grant funded by the NIH that is focused on investigating the pathophysiology of preeclampsia. Dr. Powers research has focused on investigating the pathophysiology of maternal vascular dysfunction in preeclampsia, and is currently investigating the mechanisms by which obesity increases the risk of preeclampsia. Dr. Powers has been the Editorial Consultant for the American College of Physicians, Physician’s Information and Education Resource (PIER) for the Hypertension in Pregnancy module since 2005; and has been an Associate Editor for BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth since 2009. Dr Powers is currently serving as the President of the North American Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy (NASSHP).
 
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Dr. John T. Repke
Dr. Repke is a Professor and Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Penn State College of Medicine - Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. He is a nationally recognized expert in Maternal-Fetal medicine and is listed in "Best Doctors in America". His expertise is in the study of prevention and management of hypertension in pregnancy and preeclampsia. In addition to editing a textbook on Obstetrics, Dr. Repke has published over 135 research articles in peer-reviewed journals and over 50 review articles and book chapters. He is a Past-President of the North American Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy. A 1974 graduate of Georgetown University, Dr. Repke obtained his medical degree in 1978 From New York Medical College. His internship, residency, fellowship and other professional positions have taken him to Johns Hopkins Hospital (1978-1992), Harvard Medical School-Brigham and Women's Hospital (1992-1998), the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where he chaired the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology from 1998-2002, and to Penn State, where he has chaired the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology since 2002.
 
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Dr. James M. Roberts M.D.
James M. Roberts, M.D., is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh. His research includes fundamental, clinical and health services approaches to the understanding and management of adverse pregnancy outcomes. He led a NIH RCT (10,000 women) of antioxidant vitamins to prevent preeclampsia. He was the recipient of the lifetime achievement award by the International Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy and the 2008 Preeclampsia Foundation Hope Award for Lifetime Achievement. He has served or serves on the editorial boards of journals including, Placenta, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology, Metabolism and Hypertension. He has been on scientific review boards of the NIH, the CIHR, the FDA and the March of Dimes. He was the chair of the NICHD Maternal Fetal Medicine Network from 1990 –1999 and is past president of the Perinatal Research Society, the North American Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy, the Society of Gynecological Investigation and the International Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy. Dr. Roberts was formally admitted to fellowship ad eundem of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in September of 2000. He has been elected to membership in Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Dr. Baha M. Sibai
Dr. Sibai is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.  His academic leadership and contributions to research, in the dissection of the hypertensive diseases of pregnancy and other basic problems associated with obstetrics and gynecology, has awarded him national and international recognition in the field of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, particularly in the area of hypertension in pregnancy.  His contributions have organized the treatment plans of many physicians. Dr. Sibai’s international notoriety in preeclampsia and eclampsia evolved as a result of his authorship or co-authorship of over 350 peer-reviewed publications in national and internationally circulated publications.

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Dr. Roberto Romero
Roberto Romero, M.D. is Chief of the Perinatology Research Branch and Program Director for Obstetrics and Perinatology in the Division of Intramural Research of NICHD/NIH and Professor of Molecular Obstetrics and Genetics at Wayne State University.
Dr. Romero trained at Yale University in Obstetrics and Gynecology and in the sub-specialty of Maternal-Fetal Medicine. Subsequently, he joined the faculty and became the Director of Perinatal Research. In 1992, he became Professor and Vice Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Wayne State University and Chief of the Perinatology Research Branch at NICHD/NIH.
Dr. Romero is widely regarded as one of the most prominent intellectual leaders in modern obstetrics. Over the last 25 years, his work has focused on the early diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy, the prenatal diagnosis of congenital anomalies and the study of the mechanisms of disease responsible for pregnancy complications and fetal injury with a special emphasis in preterm labor. Dr. Romero’s work has changed the practice of Obstetrics and Gynecology worldwide.
An author of over 600 peer reviewed publications and several books, including a medical best seller (Prenatal Diagnosis of Congenital Anomalies), Dr. Romero is the recipient of countless awards and recognitions by his peers, including the President’s Achievement Award from the Society for Gynecologic Investigation, Research Excellence Awards from the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Central Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, The Erich Saling Award from the World Association of Perinatal Medicine, The Ian Donald Gold Medal for contributions to Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology. He is also the recipient of six Doctorate Honoris Causa from universities all over the world, and is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.
Dr. Romero’s work in premature labor has focused on the role of infection and inflammation in spontaneous preterm labor and delivery. His research team described the involvement of cytokines and chemokines in the initiation of human labor and the fetal inflammatory response syndrome, as well as the preterm parturition syndrome. The Perinatology Research Branch uses high-dimensional biology to understand the mechanisms of disease in preterm parturition and fetal injury of the preterm neonate. .

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