Leppert named chair of gynecology and obstetrics at medical school

Leppert is a specialist in the physiology of the cervix and has lectured and published widely in that area. She was principal investigator on a four-year project to study the effects of reproductive hormones on the uterus and cervix that was funded by the Rochester General Hospital Foundation. She also has completed a one-year investigation of the effect of naturally occurring estrogen on uterine cervical elastase secretion.

Leppert received the Berlex International Research Fellowship in 1989, which enabled her to study and teach in Japan. In 1996, she completed three years as principal investigator of a study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation aimed at reducing sociocultural barriers to health care.

She holds a bachelor's degree in nursing, a master's degree in nurse midwifery and a doctorate in pathology from Columbia University. She earned her medical degree from Duke University School of Medicine, completed a two-year residency there in pediatrics and took a three-year residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Yale New Haven Hospital. She accepted a two-year fellowship in maternal fetal medicine at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, where she taught for 10 years before coming to Rochester.

Among her many honors are two teaching excellence awards from Rochester General Hospital's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Rochester Academy of Medicine Certificate of Merit, the Professional Achievement Award from the National Association of Childbearing Centers and listings in "Who's Who in American Women," "Who's Who in Science and Engineering" and "Best Doctors in the Northeast."