Susanna Mitro, PhD

susanna.d.mitro@kp.org

Mitro, Susanna

Susanna Mitro, PhD, is a research scientist at the Division of Research. She is also a scholar with the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) program. BIRCWH is a career development program for women’s health research and a collaborative effort between the University of California, San Francisco, and the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research.

Her research focus is on uterine fibroids, environmental exposures, and women’s long-term cardiometabolic health. She completed a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, where she studied the natural history of uterine fibroids during pregnancy and their effect on maternal and neonatal health.

She earned a PhD from Harvard University in Population Health Sciences, in Epidemiology. Her doctoral research evaluated associations between exposures to environmental chemicals and maternal health in pregnancy and postpartum, using metabolomics methods to test underlying biological mechanisms. She also holds an MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan and a BA in Biology from Swarthmore College.

Current Positions

  • Research Scientist

Section Affiliations

Primary Research Interests

  • Uterine fibroids
  • Women’s cardiometabolic health
  • Environmental chemical exposures

Studies

Hypertension, antihypertensive treatment, and uterine fibroid diagnosis

This research will provide urgently needed epidemiologic evidence testing a nonhormonal mechanism for fibroid development. The study will elucidate the temporal relationship between elevated blood pressure and fibroid diagnosis and examine the potential protective effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitor use on fibroid diagnosis risk. The study will additionally develop an EHR-based scale to classify fibroid severity. 

Investigator: Mitro, Susanna

Funder: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Standardized Postpartum Management for Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy: Impact on Readmission Rate

This study will evaluate whether the 2022 regional postpartum Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy (HDP) management initiative reduced readmission rates and was safe in relation to maternal morbidities associated with HDP. We will also assess whether the impact of the initiative was experienced equitably among patients with HDP and collect patient perspectives on HDP-related care received in the postpartum period to identify further areas for process improvements.

Investigator: Mitro, Susanna

Funder: TPMG Delivery Science Projects Program

Characterizing uterine fibroid diagnosis and treatment in Asian and Pacific Islander patients

This study will characterize fibroid diagnosis rate, and treatment rate within 5 years of diagnosis, by racial/ethnic group (Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, White, Hispanic, Other) and Asian subgroups (Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, other Southeast Asian, South Asian, Pacific Islander, other/unspecified Asian). The proposed research is expected to provide some of the first evidence about the burden of fibroids among Asians and Pacific Islanders; and identify fibroid health disparities and/or treatment inequities among Asians and Pacific Islanders compared to other groups. The goal of this research is to ensure that Kaiser Permanente Northern California provides equitable access to high quality screening and surgical care for fibroids.

Investigator: Mitro, Susanna

Funder: Northern California Community Benefit Programs

Publications

Cesarean delivery, labor duration and mothers’ mortality risk over 50 years of follow-up: Cesarean delivery and maternal mortality

Authors: Mitro, Susanna D;Grantz, Katherine L;et al.

Am J Obstet Gynecol MFM. 2024 Sep 19:101498.

PubMed abstract

Diabetes and uterine fibroid diagnosis in midlife: Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN)

Authors: Mitro, Susanna D;Waetjen, L Elaine;Lee, Catherine;Wise, Lauren A;Zaritsky, Eve;Harlow, Siobán D;El Khoudary, Samar R;Santoro, Nanette;Solomon, Daniel H;Thurston, Rebecca C;Hedderson, Monique M

J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2024 Sep 11.

PubMed abstract

Long-Term Risk of Reintervention After Surgical Leiomyoma Treatment in an Integrated Health Care System

Authors: Mitro, Susanna D;Xu, Fei;Lee, Catherine;Zaritsky, Eve;Waetjen, L Elaine;Wise, Lauren A;Hedderson, Monique M

Obstet Gynecol. 2024 May 01;143(5):619-626. Epub 2024-03-28.

PubMed abstract

Longitudinal Changes in Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG) and Risk of Incident Diabetes: The Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN)

Authors: Hedderson, Monique M;Capra, Angela;Lee, Catherine;Habel, Laurel A;Lee, Jennifer;Gold, Ellen B;Badon, Sylvia E;Mitro, Susanna D;El Khoudary, Samar R

Diabetes Care. 2024 Apr 01;47(4):676-682.

PubMed abstract

Hypertension, Cardiovascular Risk Factors, and Uterine Fibroid Diagnosis in Midlife

Authors: Mitro, Susanna D;Wise, Lauren A;Waetjen, L Elaine;Lee, Catherine;Zaritsky, Eve;Harlow, Siobán D;Solomon, Daniel H;Thurston, Rebecca C;El Khoudary, Samar R;Santoro, Nanette;Hedderson, Monique M

JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Apr 01;7(4):e246832. Epub 2024-04-01.

PubMed abstract

History of multifetal gestation and long-term maternal mortality

Authors: Mitro, Susanna D;Grantz, Katherine L;et al.

Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2024 Mar;38(3):219-226. Epub 2023-11-15.

PubMed abstract

Risk of postpartum readmission after hypertensive disorder of pregnancy and variation by discharge antihypertensive medication prescription

Authors: Mitro, Susanna D;Hedderson, Monique;Xu, Fei;Forquer, Heather;Baker, Jennifer M;Kuzniewicz, Michael W;Greenberg, Mara

Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2024 Jan 25.

PubMed abstract

PFAS concentrations in early and mid-pregnancy and risk of gestational diabetes mellitus in a nested case-control study within the ethnically and racially diverse PETALS cohort

Authors: Peterson, Alicia K;Zhu, Yeyi;Fuller, Sophia;Feng, Juanran;Alexeeff, Stacey;Mitro, Susanna D;Kannan, Kurunthachalam;Robinson, Morgan;Padula, Amy;Ferrara, Assiamira

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2023 Sep 13;23(1):657. Epub 2023-09-13.

PubMed abstract

Fibroids and vitamin D: another piece of the puzzle

Authors: Mitro, Susanna D; Waetjen, L Elaine; Hedderson, Monique M

Fertil Steril. 2022 Dec;118(6):1137-1138. Epub 2022-11-04.

PubMed abstract

Related Stories

Uterine fibroid incidence differs by race, ethnicity

Uterine fibroid incidence differs by race, ethnicity

April 2, 2025

Kaiser Permanente study offers new, more detailed information about Asian subgroup rates.
Research suggests tie between hypertension, uterine fibroids

Research suggests tie between hypertension, uterine fibroids

April 16, 2024

The study suggests treating hypertension could play a role in preventing fibroids, a common condition for which there is currently no preventive treatment.
Comparison of fibroid treatment finds surgical removal has fewest follow-up procedures

Comparison of fibroid treatment finds surgical removal has fewest follow-up procedures

March 28, 2024

Uterine fibroids are a common, non-cancerous condition that can be treated using several different methods that preserve the uterus. A long-term review of Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) patients finds varying rates of follow-up procedures.
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