Dr. Valerie M. Parisi has been appointed vice dean for hospital relations and clinical affairs for the Wayne State University School ofMedicine and senior advisor to the chairman/CEO for University Physician Group. Dr. Parisi is a professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, specializing in maternal-fetal medicine.
Dr. Parisi was born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., and at age 16 entered the first seven-year medical degree class at Brown University, receiving her M.D. in 1975. Her broad academic background is enhanced by an M.P.H. in maternal and child health from the University of California-Berkeley School of Public Health and an M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler School of Business, where she was inducted into the National Business Honor Society, Beta Gamma Sigma. She completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Women's and Infants' Hospital of Rhode Island and fellowship training in Maternal and Fetal Medicine at the University of Wisconsin Center for Health Sciences.
Her academic career began with 10 years as the director of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston, where she was also the director of the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellowship Program. She previously served as the Robert A. Ross Professor and Chair of the University of North Carolina Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology from 1997 to 2004 and as chair of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the State University of New York-Stony Brook from 1994 to 1997.
Dr. Parisi's research interests have been in the control of fetal placental circulation and mechanisms of perinatal asphyxia. A previously funded National Institutes of Health investigator, she is the author or co-author of more than 60 scientific articles and book chapters. She serves on editorial boards including the Journal of the Society for Gynecologic Investigation . She was also elected president of the Society for Perinatal Obstetricians (now Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine) in 1995 after serving six years on the Board of Directors. She now serves on the Liaison Committee for Medical Education, which accredits medical schools, and the finance committee of the American Board of Medical Specialties.
Dr. Parisi previously served as dean of medicine, chief academic officer and vice president for academic program administration and the Thomas N. and Gleaves James Distinguished Chair, advisor to the president, and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.