Roxanna A. Irani, MD, PhD

Dr. Roxanna Irani is a perinatologist, a doctor who cares for pregnant women and their developing fetuses. She specializes in treating expectant mothers with health conditions that can affect pregnancy, women whose pregnancies are considered high risk and those who develop pregnancy-related diseases, as well as fetuses with health problems. She performs fetal ultrasounds and interprets genetic tests. She also cares for women who need monitoring in the hospital, and performs labor and delivery services.

In her research, Irani seeks to understand how the immune system responds to pregnancy. She also investigates processes that can lead to preterm labor and preeclampsia, a complication of pregnancy that includes high blood pressure affecting both mother and baby. She has worked on drug therapies that could help mothers who develop preeclampsia. While preparing her thesis for her doctoral degree from the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Texas, she studied how autoantibodies – immune cells the body may make to target its own tissues – can contribute to the disease.

Irani has published research on preeclampsia, cardiovascular disease in pregnancy, fetal intervention options in twin-related syndromes, and Zika virus in pregnancy.

After completing her doctorate, Irani earned her medical degree at McGovern Medical School. She then completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Drexel University College of Medicine and a fellowship in maternal-fetal medicine at the Yale School of Medicine. She is a member of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

In her free time, Irani loves to escape to the ocean or go camping in the redwoods with her spouse, two young children and gigantic fluffy dog.