By Geeta Goindi
September 26, 2026 – Indian-American physician-scientist Dr. Geeta Krishna Swamy, a nationally recognized expert in maternal-fetal medicine and women’s health, has been named dean of Boston University’s Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine.
Swamy will take the helm January 1, 2027, after more than two decades at Duke University. She succeeds Hee-Young Park, who has led the school on an interim basis.
Boston University President Melissa Gilliam and Provost and Chief Academic Officer Colin Duckett announced the appointment following a national search. Swamy will be the medical school’s 19th leader.
A practicing obstetrician-gynecologist and maternal-fetal medicine specialist, Swamy’s work spans patient care, scientific discovery and university administration. Her research focuses on perinatal infections, maternal immunization and complications of pregnancy, and she has authored more than 200 publications.
At Duke, she is the Haywood Brown, MD Distinguished Professor of Women’s Health. During her 22 years at the university, she has held increasingly prominent leadership roles, overseeing areas ranging from clinical studies and regulatory oversight to scientific integrity and research administration.
“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Swamy during this critical next chapter for Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, and for the University overall,” Gilliam said in announcing the appointment.
Gilliam cited Swamy’s expertise in maternal-child health and her record of aligning hospitals and medical schools – experience that will be particularly important as Boston University seeks to strengthen its longstanding partnership with Boston Medical Center Health System.
“I am honored and excited to join this remarkable community,” Swamy said, adding that she looks forward to working with faculty, staff, students and partners to help shape the school’s next chapter.
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Swamy’s path to obstetrics and gynecology was shaped by a memorable experience during medical school.
According to a Duke University profile, she was completing an OB/GYN rotation in January 1996 when a major snowstorm hit North Carolina. Despite the difficult conditions, she made the drive from Chapel Hill to WakeMed Hospital in Raleigh.
With the storm keeping some physicians and students away, Swamy found herself assisting with nine deliveries that day. The experience proved pivotal: she knew then that obstetrics and gynecology was the field she wanted to pursue.
Swamy earned both a bachelor’s degree in public health and biostatistics and her medical degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Pittsburgh and a fellowship in maternal-fetal medicine at Duke, where she studied the role of infectious diseases in preterm birth.
She subsequently joined Duke’s faculty and developed a clinical research program focused on improving outcomes for women and their babies. Her work has encompassed influenza, pertussis and respiratory syncytial virus vaccines, as well as the effects of infectious diseases during pregnancy.
Early in her career, Swamy led studies examining the long-term outcomes of children born prematurely, earning a 2008 National Institutes of Health Young Investigator Award for Perinatal Research. She was later recognized by the NIH for examining the effects of the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic on women.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Swamy was involved in vaccine trials at Duke and applied her expertise to studying vaccine safety and effectiveness in pregnant women.
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As dean, Swamy will oversee medical education, biomedical research and faculty affairs and work closely with Boston Medical Center Health System, the school’s primary teaching hospital, as the institutions seek to deepen a partnership spanning three decades.
Alastair Bell, president and CEO of Boston Medical Center Health System, welcomed Swamy’s appointment, pointing to the institutions’ shared work in research, medical education and patient care.
“Dr. Swamy will be a tremendous asset to our shared mission,” Bell said.
Swamy takes the helm during a period of expansion at the school. Researchers recently secured new funding for the renowned Framingham Heart Study, while the school also received a Massachusetts Life Sciences Center grant supporting research into historically underexamined women’s health conditions.
For Swamy, whose career has moved between the delivery room, laboratory and university administration, the appointment marks a new chapter in a professional journey spanning medicine, scientific discovery and academic leadership.
