According to the annual Blue Ridge ranking, the Emory Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics (GYNOB) recently ranked 19th in the country. This achievement is particularly exciting for the Department and the broader Emory community as a recognition of the growth from 29th in 2021 to 19th in 2022. The annual Blue Ridge ranking, an independent national analysis of National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funds awarded to colleges and universities, is even more important when looking at the department's continued growth from years past.
In the last seven years, with an increased focus on expanding the research footprint of its faculty, the department has steadily increased its funding and, for the first time, ranked in the top 20 departments across the country.
“Research is how we answer the important questions for our patients and ultimately improve their care and outcomes,” said Alicia Smith, PhD, Vice Chair of the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics Research.
Emory University School of Medicine (SOM) School of Medicine ranked 13th in the nation with $465.1 million in funding. The Emory Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics alone received $4,535,617 in federal funding. In 2022, counting all institutions receiving funding, Emory University received $559.6 million and moved up to 17th in the nation overall for funding from the NIH.
The Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics currently highlights research on health disparities, global and population health, maternal morbidity, and epigenetics.
"I am so proud of the rapid growth of the research in the department. As a department, we are committed to a broad range of research, including bench research conducted in laboratories, clinical studies to improve patient care, and community-based research to promote health broadly and to reduce existing disparities, " said Denise J. Jamieson, MD, MPH, Department Chair of Gynecology & Obstetrics. "The broad range of research on the part of our faculty and their collaborations within and beyond the Emory community contributes to the innovation and advancements shifting the way we understand gynecology, obstetrics, maternal, and population health."
In 2022, 330 PIs were recognized as top PIs in the country, according to the annual Blue Ridge ranking. Of those 330 researchers, seven were from the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics.
- Alicia Smith, PhD, leads a translational, multi-omic research program focused on understanding the development and severity of stress-related disorders in women. These studies use genome-wide laboratory methods and bioinformatic analyses to understand how natural hormonal variation or hormonal contraceptive use influences stress response and chronic disease.
- Denise Jamieson, MD, MPH, leads “Minding the Gap,” a multi-component study addressing the maternal health crisis in Georgia and reducing racial disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality. The project uses linked birth and hospital discharge data from Georgia to characterize patterns of severe maternal morbidity, including racial and ethnic disparities and the impact of policies such as Georgia’s expansion of Medicaid for postpartum people. In addition, the study includes a randomized clinical trial testing a novel comprehensive model of postpartum care aimed at promoting health postpartum.
- Anne Dunlop, MPH, PhD, is a public health-oriented physician whose research focuses on understanding the biological, social, and clinical underpinnings of racial and ethnic disparities in preterm birth, maternal morbidities, and infant mortality and evaluating practice and policy solutions for ameliorating these. She is the Principal Investigator of the NIH-funded Atlanta African American Maternal-Child Cohort, which is striving to understand the social and biobehavioral factors that shape “the exposome” of mother-child dyads and impact their health risks and a pragmatic clinical trial of a community-based patient navigator intervention for reducing Black women’s risk of maternal morbidities during pregnancy through one-year postpartum. She is also currently working with a team of Emory investigators to evaluate the impact of Georgia’s Medicaid family planning waiver (Planning for Healthy Babies) and postpartum Medicaid extension on birth, reproductive, and women’s health outcomes.
- Lisa Flowers, MD, specializes in Human Papillomavirus (HPV) related cancers of the anogenital tract and oral cavity. She is studying novel treatments to stop the development of HPV-mediated cancers, testing technologies aimed at detecting HPV-related cancers, and searching for biomarkers that identify individuals at risk for the development of cervical and anal precancerous cells. Her research populations are predominantly underserved, marginalized, racial/ethnic, and sexual minorities and individuals from the LGBTQAI+ community. She leads an R01 examining the oral microbiome and periodontal diseases in oral HPV infection among people living with HIV, a U01 in Nigeria for community, home-based education, screening strategies to increase cervical cancer control access for HIV positive women and Co-PI for the AIDS Malignancy Consortium (AMC) and PI of the Anal Cancer/HSIL Outcomes Research study.
- Sheree Boulet, DrPH, uses a community-engaged approach to understand and address the drivers of maternal health inequities. Her work examines whether enhanced care coordination during the prenatal and postpartum periods is associated with improved healthcare engagement and reductions in maternal morbidity. She is also studying how structural racism contributes to adverse maternal outcomes at the population, health system, and individual levels among Black birthing people in Georgia.
- Melissa Kottke, MD, MPH, leads a project that seeks to better understand STI testing preferences of young Black males. Her team partners with a youth advisory board to build a discrete choice experiment to explore preferences for STI testing models using focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. This will determine the STI testing models that are preferred by specific groups of Black adolescent males.
- Kait Stanhope, PhD, is working to characterize the relationship between stress and trauma experienced at different life stages (childhood, adolescence, adulthood) and cardiometabolic dysfunction (gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy) during pregnancy. She uses mediation analysis to identify potential mechanisms, including psychiatric symptoms and preconception metabolic function.
To learn more about Emory Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, visit us online.
Written by: Bryetta Calloway, Communications Manager