Assistant Professor, Director, Perinatal and Hemorrhagic Stroke Sections, The Children’s Hospital and University of Colorado School of Medicine
- MD, University of California, San Francisco, CA
- MPH, University of California, Berkeley, CA
- 2010-Present National Institutes of Health, Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) K12 Award
"As an undergraduate anthropology major, I was fascinated by the perception of women’s health across cultures. Through medical school, I continued my research endeavors. Besides my commitment to pregnancy and neonatal brain injury research, I see myself as a mentor and role model for other young women. I have been fortunate to have strong mentors throughout my research career; it is with their mentorship that I succeed. I am also Mexican-American and the first in my family to go to college. I have found few minority role models (much less female) in the realm of translational research. I have found that surrounding myself with mentors from inside and outside my field has enriched my education and strengthened my research, something that I will encourage as I become a research mentor for others."
What is the Research Goal?
Dr. Armstrong Wells’ research goal is to target the population of mothers at highest risk for having a child with brain injury
before the injury has developed.
Understanding the Research
Newborn brain injury can happen during the third trimester of pregnancy and around the time of birth. Inflammation in pregnant mothers may cause blood clots in the placenta that can travel to the fetus, causing newborn brain injury and may also cause blood clots within the fetal brain itself. Dr. Armstrong-Wells studies the relationship of inflammation of the placenta and the fetus by targeting a high-risk maternal population: those pregnant women hospitalized for preterm premature rupture of membranes. Primary prevention of neonatal brain injury during pregnancy will decrease neurological disabilities in children and adults. A decrease in lasting neurological disability in children will have a beneficial ripple effect on women, families and society.