Surf Department News
Donor Spotlight
Drs. Nissi & Ajit Varki donate $300k in support of Glycobiology Research and Training Center and vision of Co-Directors Dr. Amanda Lewis and Dr. Kamil Godula to nucleate initiative – the GLycoscience Of Women’s health (GLOW).
Featured Department News
2025
- UC San Diego School of Medicine Physician-Scientists Elected to Association of American Physicians. (UC San Diego Today).
- Longer Breastfeeding May Reduce Developmental Delays in Kids. (MedPage Today).
- Where Are Our Patients Supposed to Safely Give Birth?. (MedPage Today).
- Tocolytics Do Not Improve Neonatal Outcomes in Preterm Birth. (Medscape Medical News).
- Some Contraceptives Carry Higher Venous Thromboembolism Risk Than Others. (MedPage Today).
2024
- How the UC academic care model supports mothers and children before, during and after pregnancy. (UC Health).
- New Bundle of Joy: UC San Diego Health Delivers Highest Ranking for Obstetric, Infant Care. (UC San Diego Today).
- Should You Take Baby Aspirin During Pregnancy?. (What to Expect).
- Irene Su Receives Award for a Novel Study on Fertility Preservation for Young Cancer Patients. (UC San Diego Today).
- UC San Diego OBGYN Chair Named 48th President of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. (UC San Diego Today).
- 'I was terrified': Black women may prefer Black OB-GYNs due to fear of discrimination, dying during pregnancy. (UC San Diego Today).
- Exciting News: A Transformative Step Forward. (Tri-City Medical Center News).
- UC San Diego Health Receives Highest Award for Obstetric, Infant Care. (UC San Diego Newsroom).
- UC San Diego Department of OBGYN & RS ranked #3 in NIH funding for OBGYN departments nationwide by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research. (BRIMR).
Marni Jacobs, PhD and Louise Laurent, MD, PhD bring in an NIH award for Multi-Omics for Human Health and Disease Study Site New Research Consortium "Multi-Omics for Maternal Health after Preeclampsia."
Ukachi Emeruwa, MD, MPH received the Robert A. Winn Career Development award and Kathleen Fisch, PhD awarded NIH/NICHD grant for Genomic Dissection of Placental Lesions in Preeclampsia.
David Schlaepfer, PhD garners V Foundation Translational Award Grant for "Overcoming Ovarian Cancer Immune Resistance."
Irene Su, MD, MSCE awarded NIH grant for Cancer Research and Education to Advance Health Equity (CREATE).
Award Spotlight
Yvette LaCoursiere, MD, MPH receives the Faculty Excellence in Mentoring Award at the UC San Diego SOM Mentoring Excellence Celebration for outstanding contributions to inclusive mentoring of junior faculty and future leaders in academic medicine and OB/GYN.
Congratulations
DEPARTMENT OF OBGYN & RS RECOGNITION
- Julia Cormano, MD received recognition from UCSD School of Medicine 3rd year medical students with the hospital-wide teaching award (2025)!
- Sheila Mody, MD, MPH was appointed the inaugural Director of the Tan Family Compassion in Medicine Academic Concentration (CIMAC) (2025).
- Sarah Averbach, MD, Pratibha Binder, MD, Lindsey Burnett, MD, PhD, Laura Delcore, MD, Ramez Eskander, MD, Jessica Kingston, MD, Audra Meadows, MD, MPH, and Samantha Thomson, MD made the 4.9+ star rating list for physicians at UC San Diego - the top 10% in the country (2025)!
- Yvette LaCoursiere, MD, MPH was appointed as Interim Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education (GME) and Designated Institutional Officer (DIO) at UC San Diego School of Medicine (2025).
- Maryam Tarsa, MD and Ayelet Ruppin-Pham, MN, RN, PHNA-BC recognized for their strong leadership as California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative Honors UCSD with 2024 Awards: 1) The MDC Superstar Award: Large Birth Volume Hospitals and 2) Quality & Sustainability Award: QI Academy Collaborative Hospitals (2024).
- Cynthia Gyamfi-Bannerman, MD, MS was named President of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (2024).
- Maureen Ries, MD received the APGO Humanism in Teaching Award (2024).
- Pratima Gupta, MD, MPH was invited by the V.P. to give a talk at the White House Fight for Reproductive Freedoms Tour (2024).
- Mark Lawson, PhD was recognized by the Mellon Foundation for excellence for the University of California Presidential Postdoctoral Fellows Program PPFP (2024).