In This Section
Kuller Appointed to SMFM Committee, Pregnancy Editorial Board
Duke CTSI Study Examines Pregnancy-Related Morbidity at Duke and UNC
Gynecologic Oncology Fellow Receives Pitkin Award
Duke-NCCU Research in Women’s Health Extended
Research Highlight: Best Surgical Video, Best Basic Science Paper, Recognized at PFD Week
Research Highlight: UrogynCREST Program Earns Renewal Award
Research Highlight: BIRCWH Program Awarded NIH Funding
Research Highlight: Patient Recruitment for TULIP Study Underway
Podcast: ‘Green Room’ Features Resident’s Work
Podcast: ‘Outlawed’ Reaches 35,000 Downloads
Podcast: ‘Live Yes! With Arthritis’ Discusses Menopause
Department Featured in Duke Bass Connections ‘Agents of Change’
Kuller Appointed to SMFM Committee, Pregnancy Editorial Board
Maternal-fetal medicine specialist Jeffrey Kuller, MD, has been appointed to the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Document Review Committee and the Pregnancy editorial board. Dr. Kuller previously was a member of the SMFM Publications Committee, serving for nine years, including four as vice chair and three as chair of the committee.
Duke CTSI Study Examines Pregnancy-Related Morbidity at Duke and UNC
Maternal-fetal medicine specialist Jeff Federspiel, MD, PhD, is a co-investigator in a new case study published by the Duke Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) that examines maternal morbidity risk factors and trends at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Maternal morbidity and mortality rates in the U.S. have more than doubled in the past 30 years, exceeding other high-income nations. This research determines the severe maternal morbidity rate at Duke and UNC and examines racial and ethnic disparities within those morbidity events.
Gynecologic Oncology Fellow Receives Pitkin Award
In May 2024, Mary Katherine Anastasio, MD, was the recipient of the 2023 Roy M. Pitkin Award as first author of one of the best papers published in 2023 in Obstetrics & Gynecology (The Green Journal): “Cryocompression to reduce peripheral neuropathy in gynecologic cancer: a randomized controlled trial.” She and colleagues are following up with another study to further define the efficacy of cryocompression to prevent chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. Faculty Laura Havrilesky, MD, MHSc, is senior author, and Haley Moss, MD, MBA, is co-author.
Duke-NCCU Research in Women’s Health Extended
Friederike Jayes, DVM, PhD, and North Carolina Central University collaborator Darlene Taylor, PhD, have had their study award extended to continue innovative biomedical research in women’s health. Their work tackles a prevalent women’s health issue: developing a novel, minimally invasive treatment for uterine fibroids as an alternative to surgery. Their technology is based on delivering a highly purified enzyme (collagenase) using a breakthrough injectable hydrogel-copolymer called LiquoGel™ that allows delivery of a high drug payload.
Research Highlight: Best Surgical Video, Best Basic Science Paper, Recognized at PFD Week
Resident Janice Wong, MD, MS, who matched at the University of California San Diego for fellowship in urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery (URPS), won the Best Surgical Video Award from the American Urogynecologic Society (AUGS) for her video titled “A Complex Reconstructive Approach to Vaginal Scarring and Urethral Intercourse.” In the video, co-created by former URPS fellow Alejandro Gómez-Viso, MD, and mentored by faculty Cassandra Kisby, MD, MS, Dr. Wong demonstrates several pelvic reconstructive techniques that can be utilized for patients with aberrant anatomy due to trauma and congenital anatomic differences.
Dr. Kisby (right), faculty Cindy Amundsen, MD (left) and Duke Orthopaedic Surgery/Duke Biomedical Engineering colleague Shyni Varghese, PhD’s research paper, “Exosomes for Prevention of Mesh Complications in a Porcine Sacrocolpopexy Model,” was selected for the Best Basic Science Paper Award. The paper was submitted to Nature Partner Journals Regenerative Medicine. The awards were presented at AUGS Pelvic Floor Disorders Week in Washington, District of Columbia, Oct. 22-25, 2024.
Dr. Amundsen also serves as an investigator in the OASIS trial to evaluate urgency urinary incontinence (UUI), and presented new data at AUGS/PFD Week 2024. The two-year data from the OASIS trial indicate that an implantable tibial neuromodulation system for UUI shows sustained efficacy, with 79% of participants responding to therapy and 56% experiencing at least a 75% reduction in UUI episodes. High patient satisfaction was reported, with 97% of patients expressing satisfaction and 80% feeling significantly improved at the two-year follow-up.
Research Highlight: UrogynCREST Program Earns Renewal Award
Dr. Amundsen, principal investigator and program director of the American Urogynecologic Society (AUGS)/Duke Urogynecology Clinical Research Educational Scientist Training (UrogynCREST) Program; Eric Jelovsek, MD, MMEd, MSDS, Duke Ob/Gyn’s director of data science for women’s health; and Rebecca Kameny, PhD, research program leader, were awarded $790,000 over five years by the National Institute of Health’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NIH/NICHD). This program has supported 18 early-career researchers and is a creative multidisciplinary, multi-institutional educational initiative considered unprecedented in the field of urogynecology, noted Dr. Amundsen.
Research Highlight: BIRCWH Program Awarded NIH Funding
The Duke/NCCU K12 Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) Career Development Program was recently awarded an additional $317,000 by the NIH for the program’s underrepresented minority scholar and the postdoctorate trainee to continue their research and training. With over 24 years of continuous funding, the BIRCWH Program is committed to providing individuals from diverse scientific and academic backgrounds with opportunities that will enable them to have successful careers in women’s health research.
Research Highlight: Wheeler Awarded R01 Grant to Study Interventions to Improve Maternal, Infant Health
Maternal-fetal medicine specialist Sarahn Wheeler, MD, MHSc, has been awarded a $3.16 million R01 grant titled “PROMOTE and TEACH Equity.” Dr. Wheeler noted, “We will test the efficacy of an intervention designed to improve maternal and infant health by empowering clinicians with skills to enhance patients’ access to continued gainful employment and accommodation to ensure a safe working environment during pregnancy.”
Research Highlight: Patient Recruitment for TULIP Study Underway
Duke University, a clinical site for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Pelvic Floor Disorders Network (PFDN), is currently enrolling patients in a clinical trial to compare three first-line treatments for postpartum urinary incontinence — the TULIP study (Training for Urinary Leakage Improvement after Pregnancy). Principal investigator is Nazema Siddiqui, MD, MHSc. Dr. Siddiqui also is the PI for the Duke Urogenital Microbiome Research Program (Ur-BIOME).
Research Highlight: Reproductive Sciences Faculty Studies Effect of ‘Forever Chemicals’ on Embryo Development
Research by Liping Feng, MD, published in Nature Communications describes how three-dimensional diffractive acoustic tomography (3D-DAT) is being utilized to demonstrate how per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, affect embryo development in mice models. Also known as “forever chemicals,” PFAS are found in numerous industrial and consumer products, and they are known to accumulate in living organisms and cause adverse health effects. Using a mouse model that had similar levels of PFAS exposure as a human, they saw that oxygen levels increased during early embryo development, slowing down the growth of blood vessels and negatively affecting embryonic growth and development, especially brain development. “By linking blood oxygen levels and vessel development to PFAS exposure, we offer a concrete, measurable pathway to understanding how these chemicals disrupt normal development,” according to Dr. Feng.
Read the full article: duke.is/PFAS-3DDAT
Podcast: ‘Green Room’ Features Resident’s Work
Chief Resident Jenny Wu, MD, first author of “Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation for Analgesia During Outpatient Endometrial Biopsy: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” was interviewed for the “Green Room Podcast” about her research. She discussed novel ways to address pain during gynecologic procedures, which was her resident research project presented at the 2024 Charles B. Hammond, MD, Research Day (first place resident winner, mentored by Laura Havrilesky, MD, MHSc). Dr. Wu is also an ACOG junior fellow. Additionally, the editorial by urogynecologist Nazema Siddiqui, MD, MHSc, titled “Urinary Tract Infections, An Age-Old Problem that Demands New Solutions,” is highlighted on the podcast.
Podcast: ‘Outlawed’ Reaches 35,000 Downloads
Beverly Gray, MD, and Jonas Swartz, MD, MPH, co-host “Outlawed,” a podcast on the science and stories of abortion. It has reached 35,000 downloads, putting it in the top 1.5% of podcasts, and was recently ranked 28th overall in Apple Podcast’s Top Society & Culture category. Duke Bass Connections has awarded Drs. Gray and Swartz, and Wesley Hogan, PhD, research professor with the Franklin Humanities Institute and History, $40,000 for continuation of the work on “Reproductive Health Post-Roe,” which includes the podcast project. This team has been collaborating with Duke graduate and undergraduate students to document the stories that abortion care providers have been experiencing since Spring 2023.
Podcast: ‘Live Yes! With Arthritis’ Discusses Menopause
Anne Ford, MD, is featured in the episode “Surviving Menopause With Arthritis.” Dr. Ford and colleague Jocelyn Wittstein, MD, of Duke’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, are collaborating to address the pivotal role hormones play in women’s well-being — driven by a gap in knowledge about the effects of hormone therapy (HT) on the body’s joints. Their objective is to create a registry containing survey data collected on menstrual status, menopausal symptoms, joint pain and locations, and whether patients are using HT for their symptoms and dosage. This data will be crucial in evaluating the use of HT in patients with menopausal arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions affecting peri- and postmenopausal women. Through support by a grant from The Forum: Women in Sports Medicine, and a Hammond Research Fund award for the project titled “Surveillance of Joint Pain in Menopause: Pilot Registry,” their work continues. Their project was highlighted in the Summer 2024 edition of the Arthritis Foundation’s Joint Matters newsletter.
Department Featured in Duke Bass Connections ‘Agents of Change’
Several past and present members of Duke Ob/Gyn are featured in the “Agents of Change: Portraits of Activism in the History of Duke Health,” a Duke oral history project. The work of activists and “change agents” throughout the history of Duke Health in conjunction with Duke’s centennial anniversary is documented. The Reproductive Justice Advocates section of the digital exhibit features:
- Eleanor Easley, MD, the first woman to receive a four-year medical degree from Duke University and a co-founder of the Durham Women’s Clinic
- Joyce N. Jiggetts, RN, BSN, CMHRP, a passionate advocate for women’s health, focusing on addressing disparities affecting marginalized communities
- Elizabeth Livingston, MD, reflecting on her early experiences practicing gynecology and caring for HIV/AIDS patients in a pediatric clinic
- Phyllis C. Leppert, CNM, MD, PhD, known for her work in improving reproductive health care outcomes and abortion rights
Duke Health Receives 2024 PQCNC Quality Improvement Award
Duke University Health System received the Perinatal Quality Collaborative of North Carolina (PQCNC) Quality Improvement Award for 2024. The award recognizes North Carolina delivery units that have made a measurable and sustained positive change in a major perinatal quality improvement indicator/issue through the implementation of quality improvement activities within the previous three years.
“Over the past three years, through a comprehensive strategy and working together, we have reduced severe maternal morbidity by more than 40%, and by over 48% for our Black patients. During this time, we have participated in the PQCNC Sepsis and Care of the Late Pre-Term Infant initiatives as well as serving as members of the Expert Team for OB Cardiac Care,” said Heather Talley, MSN, CPPS, RNC-OB, C-EFM, CNM, who led many of the efforts. “These quality improvement initiatives work to ensure patient safety, improve clinical outcomes and enhance the patient and family experience. This work is possible due to the leadership and commitment of the entire Duke Women’s Services team and the partnerships that we have with the NICU, pediatrics, pharmacy, laboratory and so many other support departments.”
Ambulatory Services Leader Contributes to AAPL Publication
Duke Ob/Gyn’s vice chair for ambulatory services, Alice Cooper, OGNP, RNC, is represented in and contributed to a peer-reviewed article and expert perspective published by the American Association for Physician Leadership: “A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of the Emerging Role of Access Medical Director in U.S. Health Systems.”