John M. Thorp, Jr.

M.D., Hugh McAllister Distinguished Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology
Professor, Maternal and Child Health; Adjunct Professor, Epidemiology
john_thorp@med.unc.edu
Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Thorp's research interests include perinatal substance abuse, learning better ways to prevent low birth weight and premature births, and reducing North Carolina's high infant death rate.

John M. Thorp, Jr. is Hugh McAllister Distinguished Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research involves three signature themes: fertility, families, and children; biological and social interactions; and place, space, and health.

John Thorp is an Obstetrician-Gynecologist and Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist practicing evidence-based medicine who is interested in perinatal substance abuse, preterm birth, and clinical trials in obstetrics. He has expertise in clinical obstetrics, perinatology, substance use in pregnancy, and the prevention of preterm delivery. He was the principal investigator of the Pregnancy, Infection and Nutrition 3 Plus study, a prospective cohort study examining whether placental vascular compromise is associated with preterm birth. He directs the UNC site for the Cooperative Multi-Center Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Network study, learning better ways to prevent low birth weight and premature births and reducing North Carolina's high infant death rate. His other research interests include use of episiotomies and trauma, management of preterm labor. He has worked outside of academia in the non-profit sector as a consultant for organizations located in South America and Africa to help establish hospitals and train traditional birth attendants in the use of clinical intervention procedures. Most recently, he has helped the UNC OB-GYN Department establish a clinical training program in Lilongwe, Malawi. John Thorp is the Deputy Director at the Center for Women's Health Research, an office that provides research services for women's health investigators and fosters collaboration across the clinical, laboratory, psychosocial and public health sciences.