Katherine Laughon Grantz, M.D.,M.S.

Dr. Grantz' overarching research goal is to provide evidence for improved clinical management of pregnancy complications, including fetal growth and labor and delivery management with a focus on when to deliver a high-risk pregnancy. Fetal growth is one of the earliest indicators of health. However, classifying "optimal" growth and distinguishing from suboptimal to identify individuals for clinical intervention remains a challenge. Dr. Grantz's research addresses this important data gap using several approaches in the NICHD Fetal Growth Studies, including generating fetal growth standards for application in clinical practice, investigating the role of fetal growth velocity, and examining the benefits of customized and individualized fetal growth references. An emerging area uses 3-dimensional (3D) ultrasound that provides more detail than the standard 2D ultrasound in determining fetal fat and lean tissue volumes. Dr. Grantz’s group is among the first to have accumulated the largest collection of fetal 3D volumes from a race/ethnically diverse pregnancy cohort with repeat ultrasounds spanning the length of gestation in the Fetal 3D Study. Detection of fetal volume and body composition changes in fetuses that are growth restricted or growing excessively has potential to inform clinical management, such as increased antenatal monitoring to prevent stillbirth or changes in maternal nutrition to prevent excess fetal fat accumulation. In the Consortium on Safe Labor study, her team is also addressing labor and delivery management to prevent medically unnecessary cesarean deliveries, an issue declared as a national priority as cesarean delivery is a risk factor for severe maternal morbidity and mortality. More recently, she’s leading a multi-center randomized clinical trial to determine the optimal time to initiate delivery for uncontrolled GDM-complicated pregnancies, in The Study of Pregnancy And Neonatal health (SPAN). Her future research continues the goal of providing evidence to inform clinical practice, ultimately to decrease perinatal morbidity and mortality on a population level.

Dr. Katherine Grantz is a Senior Investigator in the Epidemiology Branch, DiPHR, DIR, NICHD, NIH. During her fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Magee-Womens Hospital, she received a Master of Science in Clinical Research through the NIH Clinical Research Training Program at the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is an Obstetrician and Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist who leads a research program on clinical management of pregnancy complications, including aberrant fetal growth, when to deliver a high-risk pregnancy, and labor and delivery management. Findings from her research have informed over 28 national and international clinical guidelines with evidence-based practice recommendations. An expert in the field of fetal growth, Dr. Grantz and her team were responsible for a multidisciplinary effort that generated fetal growth percentile charts in a diverse U.S population for clinical practice. She led development of a first ever fetal growth velocity calculator for clinical use as well as development of twin fetal growth percentile charts. She has lent her expertise to many government committees and workshops, and has received notable awards for her contributions to NICHD and the broader community including multiple Merit, Group, Collaboration, and Partnership awards. In recognition of her demonstrated significant dedication to mentoring the next generation of perinatal epidemiologic researchers, she received the 2018 NIH Postbaccalaureate Distinguished Mentor Award and 2021 NICHD Mentor Award.