Ukachi Emeruwa

MD, MPH

Dr. Ukachi Emeruwa is a Clinical Fellow in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Her clinical interests and research focus on maternal health disparities and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. She is currently leading a funded, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial targeting the reduction in incidence of de novo postpartum hypertension. Additionally, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, she authored multiple publications on the effects of SARS-CoV-2 in the obstetric population related to racial and ethnic disparities in infection, socioeconomic disparities in infection, perinatal transmission, and other topics related to COVID-19 preparedness from the country’s epicenter.

In addition to her current research efforts, Ukachi’s professional interests include community-level program design, implementation, and evaluation; behavioral economics-informed health interventions; and malaria in pregnancy. She has conducted a qualitative investigation of the factors contributing to poor maternal and neonatal outcomes in rural East Nigeria and has worked with a non-profit organization dedicated to prevention of malaria in pregnant women and children in remote, rural villages in Ghana. She has received numerous grants to support care provision and campaigns focused on increasing awareness of global maternal issues. In addition to research, Ukachi is heavily involved in mentorship of underrepresented minorities in medicine both informally and as a lifetime member of the Student National Medical Association. She is also dedicated to undoing the harmful effects of systemic racism in medicine through her roles on Columbia Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology’s Anti-Racism Task Force and her involvement in ongoing quality improvement initiatives led by NewYork-Presbyterian’s Dalio Center for Health Justice.

Ukachi completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Massachusetts General Hospital Integrated Residency Program, where she was the recipient of numerous teaching awards. As a senior resident, she was selected nationally as a recipient of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Quilligan Scholars Program, established to support promising leaders in the field of Maternal-Fetal Medicine. Ukachi earned her MD from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and her MPH in Health and Social Behavior from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health with a focus on Maternal and Child Health. Prior to that, she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Princeton University with a concentration in Global Health and Health Policy. A native of southern California, Ukachi enjoys staying active outdoors and also enjoys playing basketball (Lakers for life!), traveling, and being the last person to leave the dance floor.