Stanley M. Berry, M.D., has been named interim chair and Frank P. Iacobell Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Wayne State University Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, effective March 15.
Dr. Berry will serve in the position while the School of Medicine conducts a national search for a permanent chair of the department, said Dean Mark E. Schweitzer, M.D., who announced the appointment Jan. 25. He succeeds Chaur-Dong Hsu, M.D., who stepped down to accept a position as chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Arizona.
A professor (clinical educator) in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine both in the department and in the Perinatology Research Branch, Dr. Berry first the WSU faculty as a clinical instructor in 1988. He became a professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2001 at Emory University, where he served as a full-time faculty member and chief of service at Emory Crawford Long Hospital from 2001 to 2003.
Dr. Berry also serves as a research project and educational mentor for the Detroit Medical Center/Wayne State University School of Medicine Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellowship and Training Program, and as an administrator and clinician for the Center for Advanced Obstetrical Care and Research of the Perinatology Research Branch of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development at our School of Medicine. He was the medical director of Women’s Services and Quality Improvement for Meridian Health Plan from 2011 to 2015.
He attended Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., the Post Baccalaureate Pre-Medical Program at Creighton University, Omaha, Neb., and earned his medical degree at the Mayo Medical School, Rochester, Minn., in 1984, where he was his class graduation speaker. He performed his internship and residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at St. Louis University Hospitals in St. Louis, Mo., and completed the Detroit Medical Center/Wayne State University School of Medicine Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellowship in 1990. He performed a research sabbatical at the Harris Birthright Research Centre for Fetal Medicine, King’s College Hospital in London, England.
He has served as corporate chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology for William Beaumont Hospitals. His previous administrative appointments include associate chair of Obstetrical Services at the Wayne State University School of Medicine/Hutzel Hospital, vice chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology for the WSU School of Medicine/Hutzel Hospital, director of the Maternal/Fetal Medicine Fellowship Program at the WSU School of Medicine/Hutzel Hospital and director of the Perinatology Research Branch from 1995 to 1996.
He was national chair of the Student National Medical Association from 1983 to 1984 and an examiner for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology from 1997 to 2000.
TIME Magazine named Dr. Berry a Coronavirus Hero in 2020. He is a fellow emeritus of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, a diplomate of the National Board of Medical Examiners, and he is board certified in General Obstetrics and Gynecology as well as Maternal Fetal Medicine by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He received the Central Prize and the Certificate of Merit Award from the Central Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the President’s Presenter’s Award from the Society of Gynecologic Investigation Scientific Program Committee, and the Outstanding Junior Faculty Award from the WSU Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1989 and 1990. He has received numerous teaching awards throughout his career.
His research interests involve high-risk obstetrics and prenatal diagnosis and therapy, concentrating on the use of fetal blood sampling to study aspects of fetal physiology, including hematology, immunology and fetal urinary function, as well as fetal status during preterm labor and preterm premature rupture of membranes.