Brett Einerson, MD
Golden Anniversary Prize for Distinguished Clinical Investigation
Brett Einerson, MD
Recognizes Utah physicians for significant contributions to understanding and treating human disease through clinical research involving human subjects
Brett Einerson, MD, who completed his fellowship in the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine in 2018, will never forget the night he received a late call from a patient. A pregnant woman with placenta accreta was bleeding heavily on the way to the hospital. In that moment, he felt a clear sense of mission: “We can do better than this. We can prevent this disease.”
Einerson’s patient was considered extremely high risk, and her case was well known among the medical team. In the 15 minutes it took her to arrive at the hospital, she had soaked through her clothing and onto the back of her brother’s new car.
“I met her in the operating room where she was covered with blood,” he says. “She just pleaded with me that she wouldn’t die.”
This event has served as a key driver in Einerson’s quest to deliver better care to patients. Now an associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine, he is one of the nation’s leading experts on placenta accreta spectrum (PAS), a rare but devastating pregnancy complication that is the leading cause of life-threatening hemorrhage and hysterectomy at delivery.
“The experience of placenta accreta for patients and their families is one of incredible helplessness, and yet we have almost no high-quality research to advance our knowledge about the disease itself,” he says. “This is a major problem, and one I’ve committed my career to understanding.”
As the director of the Utah Placenta Accreta Program, Einerson leads one of the busiest referral centers for PAS in the United States. He and his team are internationally recognized for their cutting-edge, interdisciplinary approach to diagnosis, treatment, and patient support.
“What makes Brett exceptional is that he is able to interface with patients on a daily basis—really making a difference in their clinical care—and then take what he sees from his clinical practice to develop research ideas that improve patient care,” says Torri Metz, MD, chief of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine.
“This recognition means a lot to me because it honors research that has made a meaningful impact to those who need it most.”
Einerson’s research, which spans nearly 100 peer-reviewed publications during his tenure as an assistant professor, is reshaping how clinicians diagnose and treat PAS worldwide. His work is funded by the National Institutes of Health and has appeared in leading journals, including Obstetrics & Gynecology, the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, and the British Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology.
“Brett’s research is shifting the paradigm of how we think about PAS and manage this condition,” Metz says. “And he is a generous mentor to other physician scientists at the university—maternal-fetal medicine fellows and OB/GYN residents—who are also interested in conducting research in this area.”
As the awardee of this year’s Golden Anniversary Prize for Distinguished Clinical Investigation, Einerson is thankful for the “vote of confidence” he has received from his peers for his role as a clinician, scholar, and educator. Above all, he feels a deep sense of gratitude to have the opportunity to improve health outcomes for women during a vulnerable moment in their lives.
Pregnancy is such a precarious time for people emotionally, physically, relationally, and even politically,” he says. “This recognition means a lot to me because it honors research that has made a meaningful impact on those who need it most.”