UCI School of Medicine Recognizes Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Afshan Hameed, MD

Afshan Hameed, MD, is a nationally recognized expert in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease in pregnancy and postpartum. Her work has specifically garnered attention toward the need to screen for cardiovascular risk during pregnancy and postpartum, and to monitor patients who have previously unknown cardiovascular disease or are at risk of developing it. She has also been praised by colleagues as a passionate teacher who inspires her mentees to become the best possible versions of themselves.

Dr. Hameed has worked with individuals at all levels and varying backgrounds ranging from clinical observership by high school students, to quality improvement projects with nurses, didactics for medical school students and patient-focused discussions for physicians in training. A graduate of King Edward Medical College in Lahore, Pakistan, Dr. Hameed completed her residency, internship and fellowship at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. In addition to her dual faculty appointment as professor in the Departments of OB/GYN and Cardiology, Dr. Hameed also serves as director of Labor and Delivery Services.

Beyond UCI, she has been a part of multiple national task forces and working groups focused on the evaluation and treatment of pregnant people for cardiovascular disease. One such algorithm for detecting cardiovascular disease, developed by Dr. Hameed, has been integrated and evaluated in a number of hospital networks across the nation and has informed the development of a national quality measure, "CVD Risk Assessment Measure - Proportion of pregnant/postpartum patients who receive CVD Risk Assessment with a standardized tool.”