Internationally renowned maternal fetal medicine provider Giancarlo Mari, MD, MBA joins University Hospitals Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology

UH OBGYN Update | June 2022

Giancarlo Mari, MD, MBA, joined University Hospitals Department of Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, in the Department of Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM) in May. Dr. Mari is an accomplished physician-scientist with international renown in the fields of fetal diagnosis and intervention, and the former Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at University of Tennessee. In his position overseeing ultrasound and fetal therapy and Ruhlman Family Chair in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at UH. Dr. Mari will be leading the growth of University Hospital’s expanding fetal care program along with Ellie Ragsdale, MD, and Mae-Lan Winchester, MD.

Giancarlo Mari, MD, MBA

Originally from Salerno, Italy, Dr. Mari completed his Obstetrics and Gynecology residency at Napoli University. After moving to the United States he completed a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and a Maternal-Fetal Medicine fellowship at Yale University. His research interests span from intrauterine growth restriction to fetal anemia, to twin gestation and its complications.  He is internationally known for his work developing Doppler ultrasonography for the non-invasive diagnosis of fetal anemia, and for the use of Doppler velocimetry of the fetal middle cerebral artery for diagnosis and management of growth-restricted fetuses.

Dr. Mari has been a pioneer of interventional fetal therapy for the treatment of twin-twin-transfusion syndrome.  He has been the co-founder of three fetal therapy centers in the United States. Dr. Mari has trained several hundred ob/gyn residents and medical students, 30 clinical fellows and 30 research fellows. During his 10 years as MFM Fellowship Director and Chair at University of Tennessee Health Science Center he collaborated closely with the Fetal Center of Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital.

He has served as a board member of local, national, and international medical societies, serves on the Editorial Boards of three high-impact journals, and has contributed to the development of guidelines in the field of prenatal diagnosis. His OB safety simulation curriculum (OB F.A.S.T) has been presented to over a thousand trainees in the U.S. and China.

Dr. Mari demonstrates clinical excellence, innovates therapies to improve the health of women and babies, develops evidence based practice guidelines and quality improvements, devotes efforts to improve quality of care, and is a consummate teacher. He believes there are a lot of opportunities for Maternal Fetal Medicine including decreasing infant and maternal mortality, further expanding indications for in-utero intervention, and preparing future experts in MFM though fellowship programs.