Professor and Chair
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Catherine Y. Spong, M.D., is a Tenured Professor and Chair at UT Southwestern Medical Center and holds the Paul C. MacDonald Distinguished Chair in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Spong specializes in prematurity, fetal complications, and improving outcomes in children. Her M.D. is from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, residency at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, and she had a 23- year career at the National Institutes of Health including an intramural lab focusing on neuroprotective peptides and fetal development and extramural career with the MFMU Network, Chief of the Pregnancy and Perinatology Branch, Director of Extramural, Deputy Director and Acting Director of NICHD. She holds patents for neuroprotective agents to prevent fetal injury. Other research interests include improving the understanding of stillbirth, fetal surgery, zika, COVID, and the placenta. She is a passionate advocate for inclusion in research. She has received numerous teaching and professional awards including the SMFM Lifetime Achievement Award, the UMKC Alumnus of the Year Award, NIH Director’s Awards, the ACOG Distinguished Service Award, and a Surgeon General’s Certificate of Appreciation for prematurity. She was a member of the HHS Delegation to Brazil to coordinate efforts to combat zika, led by Ambassador Kolker and was the Chair of the Department of Health and Human Services Federal Task Force on Research Specific to Pregnant Women and Lactating Women (PRGLAC). She is an Editor of William’s Obstetrics, Management of High Risk Pregnancy, Protocols of High Risk Pregnancy, and Stillbirth: Prediction, Prevention and Management. She is Editor-in-Chief of Contemporary ObGyn. She has published more than 300 peer-reviewed papers, has an h-index of 72, with over 24,713 citations, and featured on CBS Early Show, Diane Rehm Show, NPR’s All Things Considered, CNN, and Voice of America, discussing women’s health and pregnancy topics. She was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2023.