News Release

Dr. Donald Coustan recognized as giant in Ob/Gyn

Grant and Award Announcement

Care New England

Dr. Donald Coustan, Care New England

image: This is Dr. Donald Coustan recognized as Giant in Ob/Gyn. view more 

Credit: Women & Infants Hospital

Donald R. Coustan, MD, director of the Prenatal Diabetes Program in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, has been recognized as a "Giant in Obstetrics and Gynecology." This recognition is part of a series by the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (AJOG) through which AJOG recognizes individuals who have changed the practice of medicine.

Dr. Coustan is an internationally recognized expert on the management of diabetes in pregnancy and is the author of more than 200 research papers and scholarly publications. He was chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Women & Infants Hospital and the Warren Alpert Medical School from 1991 to 2008.

"This is a wonderful honor for Dr. Coustan and the hospital in general," said Diane Rafferty, interim president and chief operating officer of Women & Infants Hospital, a Care New England hospital. "Dr. Coustan, like so many of our physicians, works tirelessly every day to help improve the lives of women. Through his innovative work in the field of maternal-fetal medicine, and in particular his groundbreaking research on treating diabetes in pregnancy, he has impacted women's health care in unique and valuable ways."

According to Maureen G. Phipps, MD, MPH, chair and Chace-Joukowsky Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and assistant dean for Teaching and Research in Women's Health at the Warren Alpert Medical School, professor of epidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health, and chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Women & Infants Hospital and Care New England Health System, "In the field of medicine, there are physicians who rise above, break new ground, and inspire others, making an indelible mark on all aspects of medicine including clinical care, research, and education. Dr. Don Coustan has been a role model and mentor to so many physicians, and we are very proud of him on this wonderful recognition of so many of his achievements."

The profile in this month's AJOG offers insight into Dr. Coustan's highly successful career in clinical care, education, and research, and answers such questions as why he chose obstetrics and gynecology and how he developed his passion for finding new and better treatments for gestational diabetes.

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About Women & Infants Hospital

Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, a Care New England hospital, is one of the nation's leading specialty hospitals for women and newborns. A major teaching affiliate of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University for obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics, as well as a number of specialized programs in women's medicine, Women & Infants is the ninth largest stand-alone obstetrical service in the country and the largest in New England with approximately 8,500 deliveries per year. A Designated Baby-Friendly® USA hospital, U.S.News & World Report 2014-15 Best Children's Hospital in Neonatology and a 2014 Leapfrog Top Hospital, in 2009 Women & Infants opened what was at the time the country's largest, single-family room neonatal intensive care unit.

Women & Infants and Brown offer fellowship programs in gynecologic oncology, maternal-fetal medicine, urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery, neonatal-perinatal medicine, pediatric and perinatal pathology, gynecologic pathology and cytopathology, and reproductive endocrinology and infertility. It is home to the nation's first mother-baby perinatal psychiatric partial hospital, as well as the nation's only fellowship program in obstetric medicine.

Women & Infants has been designated as a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiography; a Center of Excellence in Minimally Invasive Gynecology; a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence by the National Institutes of Health (NIH); and a Neonatal Resource Services Center of Excellence. It is one of the largest and most prestigious research facilities in high risk and normal obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics in the nation, and is a member of the National Cancer Institute's Gynecologic Oncology Group and the Pelvic Floor Disorders Network.


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