Natasha Raj Kumar, MD, MSCE

Dr. Kumar is an Assistant Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Michigan Medical School as well as a Michigan Program for Advancing Cultural Transformation (M-PACT) Scholar. She believes that healthcare is a human right and that our safety and wellbeing as a society is interconnected with all living creatures, especially our most vulnerable members.

She speaks English, Spanish and Hindi fluently, and welcomes the opportunity to earn the trust and respect of patients with lived experiences different from her own. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time outdoors with her loved ones, traveling, and writing.

high risk pregnancy, interpregnancy health, patient-centered care, health equity

University of Michigan Health participates with most health insurance plans.

Dr. Kumar's research to develop and study interventions that expand equitable access to obstetric care for marginalized patients lies at the intersection of implementation science, patient and community engaged research, and health equity. Her prior research includes the implementation of a text-messaging program to support postpartum transitions of care for patients diagnosed with impaired glucose tolerance in pregnancy as well as the patient engaged design and implementation of a digital patient navigation tool to improve treatment outcomes for patients with antepartum anemia.

As a student of public health and public policy, Dr. Kumar believes that efforts to achieve the care that our communities deserve should extend beyond research. She has led aspects of city- and institution-wide efforts to implement cardiovascular disease screening and intimate partner violence screening in pregnancy in Philadelphia. She has co-led efforts to create a community advisory board to guide clinical quality improvement efforts for patients with high-risk pregnancies at the Hospital of University of Pennsylvania.