In a new study, researchers led by Vikki Abrahams, PhD, shine the light on why women who take opioids during pregnancy are at high risk for preterm birth.

Learn more about their look at both highly addictive drugs like fentanyl and controlled opioids like buprenorphine.

In a recent study, Aaron Lazorwitz, MD, PhD, and team analyzed the genetic data from 900 participants who used contraceptive implants.

They are on a search to discover the impact of specific birth control methods in hopes of giving individuals a better experience. Read on.

On a recent episode of the radio show "Yale Cancer Answers," Elena Ratner, MD, MBA, and the show's host Eric Winer, MD, director of Yale Cancer Center and president and physician-in-chief of Smilow Cancer Hospital, discuss the warning signs of women's gynecologic cancers.

A new methodology developed at Yale School of Medicine by researchers including Liza Konnikova, MD, PhD, associate professor of neonatal-prenatal medicine and obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences, allows scientists to safely gain insights into the immune systems of extremely preterm babies. Learn more.

A special department-hosted memorial service will be held for Peter E. Schwartz, MD, on Saturday, May 3, at 10 a.m. in Battell Chapel, 400 College Street, New Haven.

Street parking is available.

Access the chapel through Phelps Gate on College St. The chapel is in the right corner of the courtyard.

Following the special memorial service for Schwartz on May 3, the Yale Obstetrical and Gynecological Society [YOGS] will hold its 17th annual Alumni Reunion in Rosenfeld Hall [109 Grove Street, New Haven] from 1 to 5 p.m. Dinner will follow at the Graduate Club.

Joshua Copel, MD, is this year's honoree.

Please RSVP by April 17.

Your input is requested surrounding consent for exams under anesthesia and the role of medical student involvement.

The anonymous survey takes just 1 minute to complete and will help guide quality improvement initiatives that promote best practices and patient-centered care.

Applications are still open for the McKern Scholar and Titus Fellowship Awards.

The award[s] and fellowship begin July 1. Review your inbox for detailed emails sent from Laura Klein on Jan. 7.

The deadline to apply for both/either is 5 p.m., May 1. Please send submissions and questions to elvira.barbiero@yale.edu.

Yale Ob/Gyn will have a large presence at this week’s Society for Reproductive Investigation [SRI] meeting in Charlotte. Several faculty members and trainees are scheduled for oral and poster presentations.

Dean Nancy J. Brown, MD, explains how she and YSM leadership are being proactive, refreshing strategic plans, and implementing new opportunities for collaboration, such as "Fifth Fridays." It's all in her latest, Beyond Sterling Hall - "Creating the Future."

She also provides a follow-up to Provost Strobel, Senior Vice President Callahan, and Vice President Murphy's recent university budget update.

[Re]view the latest on telehealth from Associate Dean Lee H. Schwamm, MD.

He lays out both scenarios: if waivers expire April 1 and/or if no action is taken by December 31.

Yale University Health Sciences IT is conducting a user experience analysis to improve how faculty, staff, students, and researchers navigate technology platforms across Yale University and Yale New Haven Health System [YNHHS].

The 5-minute survey will help shape improvements that enhance access, efficiency, and user satisfaction.

Chair Hugh Taylor, MD, shares education changes surrounding Audrey Merriam, MD, MS, Iman Berrahou, MD, and Catherine Salva, MD, MSEd.

Congratulations to the 2025-26 chiefs:

• Administrative - Akailah Mason-Otey, MD, and Ashley Goreshnik, MD
• Academic - Khadija Alshowaikh, MD, and Abdel Alashqar, MD
• Journal Club - Alexa Dzienny, MD
• Research - Tamu Chidawanyika, MD
• QI/M+M - Kat Braun, MD
• OB Simulation - Ben Pifer, MD
• GYN Simulation - Finn Pebley, MD

Basar was recently named associate director for the Yale Endocrinology Laboratory and the Yale Sperm Physiology Laboratory.

We officially welcome Eric Broni, MD; Rasadokht Forati, MD; Kristina Hinman, MD; Sara Hovstadius, MD; Rebecca King, MD; Julia Wang, MD; Allysa Warling, MD; Raziye Melike Yildirim, MD [pictured holding sign]; and Rohini Dutta, MD [preliminary] who matched with Yale Ob/Gyn on Mar. 21.

Speaking of Match Day, Lubna Pal, MBBS, MS, was also celebrating as she learned her youngest son matched at Mt. Sinai for internal medicine [pictured far left]. He will join his older brother [middle] who is already in residency there. Congratulations, all!

MacKeil retired in early February after serving the Yale health system since 2006. She was the clinical program director of Women’s Services.

Emre Seli, MD, has been elected president of the Society for Reproductive Investigation [SRI], and Vikki Abrahams, PhD, has been elected to the council.

Yingqun Huang, MD, PhD, is one of the latest recipients of the Blavatnik Fund for Innovation at Yale for her work on Inflammation & Immunology Breakthrough: Molecular Glues for the Selective Elimination of Pathogenic Macrophages.

The awardees will be recognized at the 2025 Yale Innovation Summit in May.

Watch Huang vie for funding at Yale Life Sciences Pitchfest in December 2024.

Kirsten Lawrence, MD, MSCE, was honored earlier this month as one of the “Women Who Inspire” by the Greenwich YWCA.

The awards were established to recognize and celebrate outstanding women who have excelled in philanthropic, professional, and volunteer pursuits.

Hanah Georges, PhD, MS, a postdoctoral associate in the Abrahams Lab, was recently awarded a travel award by the American Society for Reproductive Immunology [ASRI]. She will give an oral presentation on some of the lab's latest research at the society's next meeting in May.