Jeffrey F. Peipert, M.D., has been named the Robert J. Terry Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Larry J. Shapiro, M.D., executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, announced the appointment. Peipert is the first person to hold the professorship, which was established in honor of Robert J. Terry, M.D., professor and head of the Department of Anatomy from 1900-1941.
“Robert Terry was an outstanding teacher and scientist,” Shapiro said. “He introduced many reforms in the teaching of anatomy and was renowned for his research on the human skeleton. He also served as head of the Department of Anatomy for more than 40 years and was the only department head retained from the original faculty when the School of Medicine was completely reorganized in 1910.”
Terry, a popular teacher, also assembled one of the largest and best documented skeletal collections in the United States, which is housed at the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution.
“Given Dr. Terry’s distinguished career as an educator and as a researcher and his devotion to the School of Medicine, I am very honored to be given this chair,” Peipert said.
“Support from this chair, from the dean and from Dr. [George] Macones will enable our division to perform interdisciplinary clinical research that will improve women’s health,” Peipert said.
“Dr. Peipert has demonstrated his ability as an outstanding clinical scientist who is actively engaged in women’s health research, and he has made substantial contributions to the field,” said George A. Macones, M.D., the Mitchell and Elaine Yanow Professor and head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. “His work has directly resulted in improvements in the health of women in the United States and worldwide.”
Peipert, vice chair of clinical research in obstetrics and gynecology, came to WUSTL from Brown University in 2006.
At Brown, Peipert was professor of obstetrics and gynecology and community health for 13 years and director of the department’s research division.
He is developing a clinical research division at the medical school to provide new knowledge to improve women’s health. The new division is fostering interdisciplinary research by collaborating with other departments and divisions at the University, supporting efforts to increase clinical research in the department and the community and training new investigators in women’s health research.
Peipert’s research focuses on clinical epidemiology, family planning and infectious diseases. He recently completed a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study to evaluate behavioral interventions to prevent sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancy.
He serves on a newly created NIH study section on Health Behaviors & Context and on the editorial board for the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.