Dr. Melissa Medvedev (Morgan) is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Neonatology). She is a physician-scientist with a background in clinical research/trials, global health, and health technology innovation. Her research focuses on risk prediction and the evaluation of maternal, neonatal, and early childhood interventions to promote survival and prevent disability. Dr. Medvedev derived and validated a simplified score to predict mortality among newborns ≤2000g (NMR-2000), using data from the UK and The Gambia. She is co-PI of the OMWaNA study, a randomized trial evaluating the impact of kangaroo mother care (KMC) initiated before stabilization on mortality within 7 and 28 days relative to standard care among neonates at five Ugandan hospitals. Trial enrollment has been completed and results are expected in fall 2022.

Dr. Medvedev received her MD from the University of Texas Houston and completed clinical training in Pediatrics and Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at UCSF. She obtained her MSc in Global Health Science from the University of Oxford and her PhD in Epidemiology and Medical Statistics from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Her thesis focused on quantifying neonatal mortality risk and informing the design of the OMWaNA trial using mixed methods. She completed postdoctoral fellowships in preterm birth research at UCSF and biodesign innovation at Stanford University.

Dr. Medvedev serves on the WHO/UNICEF Every Newborn Measurement Improvement KMC Working Group, the UNICEF/NEST360 Target Product Profiles Working Group, and the NEST360 COVID-19 and Education Working Groups. She is a member of the WHO Maternal, Newborn, Child & Adolescent Health COVID-19 Research Network and the COVID-19 Small and Sick Newborn Care Collaborative Group. In partnership with these groups, Dr. Medvedev co-led a comparative risk analysis of deaths averted by KMC versus mortality due to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and a global survey exploring the impact of COVID-19 on neonatal care.