Rebecca Josowitz, MD, PhD, of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), has been named a recipient of the prestigious William W. Parmley Young Author Achievement Award by the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC). She will be recognized during the American College of Cardiology’s Scientific Session on March 29th, 2026 in New Orleans.
The Parmley Prize honors outstanding first-author research by trainees published in JACC and highlights excellence in cardiovascular investigation. Recipients are selected based on originality, scientific rigor, presentation and overall impact.
Dr. Josowitz was recognized for her study, “Placental Malperfusion is Associated with Adverse Outcomes in Congenital Heart Disease and With Genetic Variants in Placental Developmental Pathways.” Leveraging the unique resources of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Birth Defects Biorepository, Dr. Josowitz and her team examined 299 fetuses with congenital heart disease and found that evidence of placental malperfusion was common and associated with an array of adverse outcomes including impaired fetal growth, longer hospitalizations, and increased mortality.
In addition, those with placental malperfusion harbored de novo genetic variants in key cardiac and placental developmental pathways, important for angiogenesis and placental function. Their findings suggest dysregulation of shared developmental pathways as a possible mechanism for underlying defects in both placental and cardiac development.
This research advances understanding of how placental health and genetic factors may influence outcomes for patients with congenital heart disease.
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Rebecca Josowitz, MD, PhD, of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), has been named a recipient of the prestigious William W. Parmley Young Author Achievement Award by the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC). She will be recognized during the American College of Cardiology’s Scientific Session on March 29th, 2026 in New Orleans.
The Parmley Prize honors outstanding first-author research by trainees published in JACC and highlights excellence in cardiovascular investigation. Recipients are selected based on originality, scientific rigor, presentation and overall impact.
Dr. Josowitz was recognized for her study, “Placental Malperfusion is Associated with Adverse Outcomes in Congenital Heart Disease and With Genetic Variants in Placental Developmental Pathways.” Leveraging the unique resources of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Birth Defects Biorepository, Dr. Josowitz and her team examined 299 fetuses with congenital heart disease and found that evidence of placental malperfusion was common and associated with an array of adverse outcomes including impaired fetal growth, longer hospitalizations, and increased mortality.
In addition, those with placental malperfusion harbored de novo genetic variants in key cardiac and placental developmental pathways, important for angiogenesis and placental function. Their findings suggest dysregulation of shared developmental pathways as a possible mechanism for underlying defects in both placental and cardiac development.
This research advances understanding of how placental health and genetic factors may influence outcomes for patients with congenital heart disease.
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New study explores placental malperfusion’s impact on fetal health and development in congenital heart disease
CHOP researchers discovered that placental malperfusion, a condition that disrupts blood flow in the placenta, is common in fetuses with congenital heart disease and is linked to poor fetal growth, longer hospital stays and potentially increased mortality.
Birth defects biorepository
The biorepository creates a centralized place to collect and store biological samples to be used in future research studies.
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