Sam Parry, MD
1996 SMFM Foundation Scholarship
Currently at University of Pennsylvania
What was the most memorable part of your Foundation-funded project or experience as a Foundation awardee?
The Foundation grant supported my early research studying viral infections in the placenta and led to future NIH funding in the same area. The Foundation grant gave me the time and support early in my career to establish my research program.
If you received funding for a research project, are you still involved in that area of research?
Yes.
Tell us more about what you're currently working on.
I am funded by the March of Dimes to study placental dysfunction in relation to spontaneous preterm birth, and I have served as PI for several NIH-funded research networks, currently the MFMU Network.
How did the award influence your career?
The award allowed me to establish a unique niche in the MFM division at Penn, and I have been able to have continuous funding from the NIH for the past 20 years.
What lessons (e.g., personal, professional, life, etc.) did you learn that you would like to pass on to future awardees?
Make a list of the experiments proposed in each specific aim of your grant, display the list prominently in your office, and remind yourself continuously to complete and report the findings for each proposed experiment. This is the easiest way to stay disciplined and parlay your Foundation for SMFM funding into independent research grants.
Did you submit an abstract for #SMFM20?
Yes.
Where did you do your MFM fellowship?
University of Pennsylvania.
What do you like best about being an MFM?
I am fulfilled as an MFM physician by the varied, but equally interesting, aspects of my job: in-patient obstetrics, in-patient and out-patient medical complications, prenatal ultrasound, administrative tasks, clinical educator, and translational investigator.
What do you hope to be doing in 10 years?
Retired!
Tell us a fun fact about yourself!
I am an avid woodworker!
