Cora MacPherson

Assistant Research Professor

School: Milken Institute School of Public Health

Department: Epidemiology

Contact:

Email: Cora MacPherson

Office Phone: (202) 242-2963

The George Washington University Biostatistics Center, 6710A Rockledge Drive, Suite 250 Bethesda MD 20817

Cora MacPherson, PhD, is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Over a career spanning more than 35 years, she has partnered with government agencies, physicians, and pharmaceutical companies to design, conduct, and analyze medical research studies in areas ranging from cancer and diabetes to urology and mood disorders.

Her work in child health began in 1992, when she joined the George Washington University Biostatistics Center as a biostatistician for the NICHD Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units (MFMU) Network, a role she held for more than a decade. She then served as Director of the Center for Data Analysis and Management at Social & Scientific Systems, where she provided strategic and technical leadership for a portfolio of projects in statistical and biomathematical research, data mining, and data curation. In 2017, she returned to GW and resumed her work with the MFMU Network.

Dr. MacPherson was Principal Investigator of the SNP-based Microdeletion and Aneuploidy Registry (SMART, 2018-2024), one of the largest prospective studies of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) ever conducted, which enrolled more than 20,000 patients at 21 medical centers worldwide. She participated in the data analysis for the Management of Myelomeningocele Study (MOMS) and its follow-up, MOMS2, a landmark clinical trial that compared prenatal (fetal) surgery with traditional postnatal surgery for treating spina bifida (myelomeningocele). She is currently Principal Investigator of the DECIDE trial, a PCORI-funded, randomized, open-label, pragmatic comparative effectiveness trial of more than 1,500 participants. The study is evaluating whether metformin is non-inferior to insulin in reducing adverse neonatal outcomes, and whether it is comparably safe for children exposed in utero.

She has served on the Data and Safety Monitoring Boards (DSMBs) for three NIH-funded clinical trials and several industry-sponsored studies, and is a peer reviewer for the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs.

Expertise

Biostatistics

Children's Health

Epidemiology

Maternal and Child Health

Education

PhD, Epidemiology, The George Washington University, 2000
MS, Statistics, Carnegie Mellon University, 1989
BS, Statistics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1988

Teaching

Co-teaching PubH 6002: Biostatistical Applications in Public Health

Community Service

Member of three Data and Safety Monitoring Boards

Scientific Reviewer for the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program

Publications

A selection of publications:

Houtrow AJ, MacPherson C, Jackson-Coty J, Rivera M, Flynn L, Burrows PK, Adzick NS, Fletcher J, Gupta N, Howell LJ, Brock JW 3rd, Lee H, Walker WO, Thom EA. Prenatal Repair and Physical Functioning Among Children With Myelomeningocele: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Pediatr. 2021 Apr 1;175(4):e205674. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.5674. Epub 2021 Apr 5. PMID: 33555337.

Dar P, Jacobson B, MacPherson C, Egbert M, Malone F, Wapner RJ, Roman AS, Khalil A, Faro R, Madankumar R, Edwards L, Haeri S, Silver R, Vohra N, Hyett J, Clunie G, Demko Z, Martin K, Rabinowitz M, Flood K, Carlsson Y, Doulaveris G, Malone C, Hallingstrom M, Klugman S, Clifton R, Kao C, Hakonarson H, Norton ME. Cell-free DNA screening for trisomies 21, 18 and 13 in pregnancies at low and high risk for aneuploidy with genetic confirmation. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2022 Jan 24;. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2022.01.019. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 35085538.

Dar P, Jacobsson B, Clifton R, Egbert M, Malone F, Wapner RJ, Roman AS, Khalil A, Faro R, Madankumar R, Edwards L, Strong N, Haeri S, Silver R, Vohra N, Hyett J, Demko Z, Martin K, Rabinowitz M, Flood K, Carlsson Y, Doulaveris G, Daly S, Hallingström M, MacPherson C, Kao C, Hakonarson H, Norton ME. Cell-free DNA screening for prenatal detection of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2022 Jan 13;. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2022.01.002. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 35033576.

Buskmiller C, Bergh EP, Brock C, Miller J, Baschat A, Galan H, Behrendt N, Habli M, Piero JL, Snowise S, Fisher J, Macpherson C, Thom E, Pedroza C, Johnson A, Blackwell S, Papanna R. Interventions to prevent preterm delivery in twin-twin transfusion with short cervix. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2021 Jun 15. doi: 10.1002/uog.23708. Online ahead of print. PMID: 34129709.

Meltzer AC, Wolfson AB, Mufarrij P, MacPherson C, Montano N, Kirkali Z, Burrows PK, Jackman SV. Analgesic and Opioid Use for Patients Discharged from the Emergency Department with Ureteral Stones. J Endourol. 2021 Jul;35(7):1067-1071. doi: 10.1089/end.2020.0835. Epub 2021 Jan 21. PMID: 33213185.

Houtrow AJ, Thom EA, Fletcher JM, Burrows PK, Adzick NS, Thomas NH, Brock JW 3rd, Cooper T, Lee H, Bilaniuk L, Glenn OA, Pruthi S, MacPherson C, Farmer DL, Johnson MP, Howell LJ, Gupta N, Walker WO, Prenatal Repair of Myelomeningocele and School-age Functional Outcomes, Pediatrics, 2020 Feb, 145(2). pii: e20191544. doi: 10.1542/peds.2019-1544. PubMed PMID: 31980545.

Hoffman M, Mann LK, Won JH, Bergh EP, Donepudi R, Johnson A, Moise KJ, Macpherson C, Thom E, Mesiano S, Papanna R, Steroid Hormone Levels in Recipient Amniotic Fluid in Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome and Their Association with Preterm Delivery, Am J Perinatol, 2019 Dec, doi: 10.1055/s-0039-1700862.

Meltzer AC, Burrows PK, Kirkali Z, Hollander JE, Kurz M, Mufarrij P, Wolfson AB, MacPherson C, Hubosky S, Montano N, Jackman SV, Accuracy of Patient Reported Stone Passage for Patients With Acute Renal Colic Treated in the Emergency Department, Urology, 2019 Oct, 136:70-74. doi: 10.1016/j.urology.2019.10.010. Epub 2019 Nov 5. PubMed PMID: 31704458.

Brock JW 3rd, Thomas JC, Baskin LS, Zderic SA, Thom EA, Burrows PK, Lee H, Houtrow AJ, MacPherson C, Adzick NS, Effect of Prenatal Repair of Myelomeningocele on Urological Outcomes at School Age, Journal of Urology, 2019 Oct, 202(4):812-818. .

Heuser C, Dalton J, MacPherson C, Branch D, Porter T, Silver R. “Idiopathic recurrent pregnancy loss recurs at similar gestational ages.” Am J Obstet Gynecol 2010 Oct; 203(4):343-9.

Gaynes B, DeVeaugh-Geiss J, MacPherson C, et al. “Feasibility and diagnostic validity of the M-3 checklist: a brief, self-rated screen for depressive, bipolar anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorders in primary care.” Ann Fam Med 2010 Mar-Apr; 8(2):160-9.

Mastrobattista J, Klebanoff M, Carey J, Hauth J, MacPherson C, et al, and NICHD Maternal-Fetal Medicine Unit Networks. “The effect of body mass index on therapeutic response to bacterial vaginosis in pregnancy.” Am J Perinatol 2008 Apr; 25(4):233-7.

Sciscione A, Landon M, Leveno K, Spong C, MacPherson C, et al, and NICHD Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Network (MFMU). “Previous preterm cesarean delivery and risk of subsequent uterine rupture.” Obstet Gynecol 2008 Mar; 111(3):648-53.

Berghella V, Owen J, MacPherson C, Yost N, et al. “Natural history of cervical funneling in women at high risk for spontaneous preterm birth.” Obstet Gynecol 2007 Apr; 109(4):863-869.

Rouse D, MacPherson C, Landon M, Varner M, et al, and NICHD Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Network. “Blood transfusion and cesarean delivery.” Obstet Gynecol 2007 Oct; 108(4):891-7.

Durnwald C, Rouse D, Leveno K, Spong C, MacPherson C, et al, and NICHD Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Network. “The Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Cesarean Registry: Safety and efficacy of a trial of labor in preterm pregnancy after a prior cesarean delivery.” Am J Obstet Gynecol 2006 Oct; 195(4):1119-26.

Mercer B, MacPherson C, Goldenberg R, et al, and NICHD Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Network. “Are women with recurrent spontaneous preterm births different from those without such history?” Am J Obstet Gynecol 2006 Apr; 194(4):1176-84; discussion 1184-5.

Goepfert AR, Varner M, Ward K, MacPherson C, Klebanoff M, et al. “Differences in inflammatory cytokine and Toll-like receptor genes and bacterial vaginosis in pregnancy.” Am J Obstet Gynecol Oct 2005; 193(4):1478-85.