Doctors Tippi MacKenzie and Mary Norton of the UCSF Departments of Surgery and Obstetrics, Gynecology, & Reproductive Sciences proudly announce the formation of a trans-disciplinary program designed to improve our understanding and treatment of patients with congenital anomalies and pregnancy complications. The
Center for Maternal-Fetal Precision Medicine aims to integrate resources and talent between scientists and clinicians to accelerate research and clinical trials of fetal and neonatal interventions, create stronger bridges between basic research and clinical applications, and improve maternal, fetal, and neonatal care.
The 7 most important things parents should know about Twin-To-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS). Featuring Dr. Larry Rand and our whiteboard animations.
The Center for Maternal-Fetal Precision Medicine is proud to announce the launch of our new website. We’ve designed it to clearly and simply describe the Center's vision and mission, display important news items, and keep viewers apprised of our weekly meeting topics. Take a look by going to
mfprecision.ucsf.edu.
Dean Hawgood has just appointed Larry Rand, MD, as the holder of the Lynne and Marc Benioff Endowed Chair in Maternal and Fetal Medicine in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. An endowed chair is a highly honored academic position that acknowledges a faculty member’s excellence and provides invaluable research and other academic support.
Michael Skinner made medical history in 1981. He was the first baby in the world to survive successful fetal surgery—an operation to repair a life-threatening condition while still in the womb. He was born on May 10, 1981, at UCSF Medical Center. It was Mother's Day.
MacKenzie and her UCSF colleagues have shown that, in mice at least, pregnancy complications after fetal surgery are triggered by activation of the mother’s T cells – the same T cells that cause the body to reject a donor organ after transplant surgery. “We have the ability to design specific medical treatments to prevent it – for example, by using medications that target some of the pathways involved in T cell-mediated rejection."
You may have seen his smiling face on billboards, or on BART trains or Muni buses. The guy is Dr. Larry Rand, the director of Perinatal Services at UCSF’s Fetal Treatment Center, as well as the Lynne and Marc Benioff Endowed Chair in Maternal and Fetal Medicine. A renowned researcher in the prevention of pre-term infant mortality, he is the co-director of a new $100 million research project funded by the Benioffs and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to reduce the incidence of premature births around the world, particularly among low-income, underserved populations.
Doctors call Vilma Zarate’s role as an administrative analyst in University of California, San Francisco’s fetal surgery department invaluable to both faculty and patients. For faculty, Zarate carefully crafts grant and funding applications and coordinates clinical trials. Patients, on the other hand, benefit from the clear and thoughtful consent documents Zarate creates to help them understand the risks of cutting-edge medicine.
Advances in fetal surgery at UCSF's Fetal Treatment Center save twins in a dire situation. In many ways, having a baby is a lesson in expecting the unexpected. Anna Endter's lesson started when her doctor looked at the ultrasound screen and pointed to two heartbeats.
Publication by Anita J. Moon-Grady, MD of the Fetal Cardiovascular Program on the diagnosis of TAPVR fetal echocardiography. The diagnosis of TAPVR using can be suspected on standard axial views included in second-trimester obstetric screening examinations of the fetal heart and confirmed on fetal echocardiography with the use of pulsed wave Doppler imaging.