Kartik Venkatesh MD, PhD (Speaker)

Kartik is an obstetrician and gynecologist, maternal-fetal medicine specialist, and PhD perinatal epidemiologist. At The Ohio State University (OSU), he is an Associate Professor with Tenure in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Epidemiology. He is the Director of the Diabetes in Pregnancy Program, one of the nation’s oldest and largest integrated diabetes and prenatal care programs serving >1,000 pregnant women with diabetes from across Ohio each year. He is a Castle Connolly Top Doctor. Kartik leads the Perinatal Epidemiology Program. Kartik’s research has generated over $30 million in direct funding and is the PI of: 1) NIH Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) and Pregnancy in Ohio cohort focused on cardiometabolic risk (UG3/UH3); 2) AHRQ’s ACHIEVE RCT focused on using technology and addressing unmet social needs to improve pregnancy outcomes with type 2 diabetes (R01); 3) NIHR’s NOURISH RCT focused on improving nutritional insecurity to improve pregnancy outcomes with diabetes (R01); 4) NHLBI’s MomHeart cohort to understand social determinants and maternal cardiovascular health (R01); and 5) PCORI’s DECIDE, a comparative effectiveness, patient-centered RCT, comparing metformin and insulin for the treatment of gestational diabetes at 20 U.S. centers (large grant). Kartik has published >200 peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts focused on diabetes in pregnancy, adverse pregnancy outcomes, maternal cardiometabolic health, and perinatal infectious diseases. He has methodological expertise in clinical trials, prospective cohorts, and clinical prediction models. His research has been recognized as a “Top Paper” by the American Diabetes Association for the past three years. He has been named an “Emerging Leader” by the National Academy of Medicine, and a “Dean’s Excellence Award” at OSU. He currently chairs the World Health Organization Committee drafting the first ever guidelines for diabetes in pregnancy. He serves in leadership roles for the Editorial Board of the Obstetrics & Gynecology, American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Executive Council of the Infectious Diseases Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the Pregnancy Subsection of the American Diabetes Association, and recently served on the Executive Committee of the Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Group of North America and led the Diabetes in Pregnancy Forum of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. As a physician-scientist, Kartik’s overarching goal is to improve pregnancy outcomes for women living with diabetes and improve maternal cardiometabolic health using innovative approaches that integrate clinical trials, patient engagement, and perinatal epidemiology.