Dilys Walker, MD
Professor
Ob/Gyn, Reproductive Sciences
School of Medicine

As a clinician researcher, her academic career has focused on global implementation research in limited resource settings, taking a life course approach to improving outcomes for women, mothers, and their newborns.

Dr Walker led efforts to build the evidence base to support the re-introduction of professional midwifery in Mexico and to address the disparity in quality of care at the time of birth. She developed an innovative provider training program for emergency obstetric and newborn care (PRONTO), based on highly realistic simulation and team training. The program began in Mexico, and now has programs in over 10 countries globally.

As Principal Investigator for the Preterm Birth Initiative East Africa (2014-2021), the project aimed to decrease the burden of preterm birth in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. Among other efforts, the team conducted two large CRCTs:(1) to evaluate an intervention package to improve quality of care at birth for preterm infants in Kenya and Uganda, and (2) to assess the impact of group antenatal care on prevention of preterm birth in Rwanda. UCSF, led by Dr Walker, is a technical anchor for the USAID funded Health Evaluation and Applied Research Development Project and has worked with collaborators in Madagascar and Malawi to improve postpartum hemorrhage care.

Dr Walker is co-leading the Equitable Global Health Partnerships Initiative, a collaborative effort between The Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health (Bixby) and the Institute for Global Health Sciences (IGHS) that began in 2021 with the mandate to identify and address inequity in our global health partnerships. This culminated in This culminated in 5 working groups co-led by our global partners developing action plans for the Domains for Change identified through the process including: Education Training and Mentorship, Relationship Building, Authorship and Knowledge Production, Ethics and Community Involvement, and Equity in Financial Management.

• Diagnosis and management of postpartum hemorrhage and intrapartum asphyxia in a quality improvement initiative using nurse-mentoring and simulation in Bihar, India.
  PloS one 2019 Ghosh R, Spindler H, Morgan MC, Cohen SR, Begum N, Gore A, Mahapatra T, Walker DM
• Simulation-enhanced nurse mentoring to improve preeclampsia and eclampsia care: an education intervention study in Bihar, India.
  BMC pregnancy and childbirth 2019 Raney JH, Morgan MC, Christmas A, Sterling M, Spindler H, Ghosh R, Gore A, Mahapatra T, Walker DM
• Clinical cascades as a novel way to assess physical readiness of facilities for the care of small and sick neonates in Kenya and Uganda.
  PloS one 2018 Morgan MC, Spindler H, Nambuya H, Nalwa GM, Namazzi G, Waiswa P, Otieno P, Cranmer J, Walker DM
• Barriers and facilitators to the provision of optimal obstetric and neonatal emergency care and to the implementation of simulation-enhanced mentorship in primary care facilities in Bihar, India: a qualitative study.
  BMC pregnancy and childbirth 2018 Morgan MC, Dyer J, Abril A, Christmas A, Mahapatra T, Das A, Walker DM
• Logistical, cultural, and structural barriers to immediate neonatal care and neonatal resuscitation in Bihar, India.
  BMC pregnancy and childbirth 2018 Vail B, Morgan MC, Dyer J, Christmas A, Cohen SR, Joshi M, Gore A, Mahapatra T, Walker DM
• The power of practice: simulation training improving the quality of neonatal resuscitation skills in Bihar, India.
  BMC pediatrics 2018 Vail B, Morgan MC, Spindler H, Christmas A, Cohen SR, Walker DM
• Care of the mother-infant dyad: a novel approach to conducting and evaluating neonatal resuscitation simulation training in Bihar, India.
  BMC pregnancy and childbirth 2017 Vail B, Spindler H, Morgan MC, Cohen SR, Christmas A, Sah P, Shah MB, Das A, Walker DM
• Can a simulation-based training program impact the use of evidence based routine practices at birth? Results of a hospital-based cluster randomized trial in Mexico.
  PloS one 2017 Fritz J, Walker DM, Cohen S, Angeles G, Lamadrid-Figueroa H
• Impact Evaluation of PRONTO Mexico: A Simulation-Based Program in Obstetric and Neonatal Emergencies and Team Training.
  Simulation in healthcare : journal of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare 2016 Walker DM, Cohen SR, Fritz J, Olvera-García M, Zelek ST, Fahey JO, Romero-Martínez M, Montoya-Rodríguez A, Lamadrid-Figueroa H
• Clinician attendance and delivery practices at hospital-based vaginal deliveries in Western Kenya.
  International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics 2015 Patel SJ, Bogaert K, Gachuno OW, Kibore MW, Unger J, Walker DM
• A process evaluation of PRONTO simulation training for obstetric and neonatal emergency response teams in Guatemala.
  BMC medical education 2015 Walker DM, Holme F, Zelek ST, Olvera-García M, Montoya-Rodríguez A, Fritz J, Fahey J, Lamadrid-Figueroa H, Cohen S, Kestler E
• Team training in obstetric and neonatal emergencies using highly realistic simulation in Mexico: impact on process indicators.
  BMC pregnancy and childbirth 2014 Walker D, Cohen S, Fritz J, Olvera M, Lamadrid-Figueroa H, Cowan JG, Hernandez DG, Dettinger JC, Fahey JO
• The Oportunidades conditional cash transfer program: effects on pregnancy and contraceptive use among young rural women in Mexico.
  International perspectives on sexual and reproductive health 2013 Darney BG, Weaver MR, Sosa-Rubi SG, Walker D, Servan-Mori E, Prager S, Gakidou E
• Are all skilled birth attendants created equal? A cluster randomised controlled study of non-physician based obstetric care in primary health care clinics in Mexico.
  Midwifery 2013 Walker D, DeMaria L, Gonzalez-Hernandez D, Padron-Salas A, Romero-Alvarez M, Suarez L
• A matched pair cluster randomized implementation trail to measure the effectiveness of an intervention package aiming to decrease perinatal mortality and increase institution-based obstetric care among indigenous women in Guatemala: study protocol.
  BMC pregnancy and childbirth 2013 Kestler E, Walker D, Bonvecchio A, de Tejada SS, Donner A
• Promoting cultural humility during labor and birth: putting theory into action during PRONTO obstetric and neonatal emergency training.
  The Journal of perinatal & neonatal nursing 2013 Fahey JO, Cohen SR, Holme F, Buttrick ES, Dettinger JC, Kestler E, Walker DM
• [Sociodemographic and reproductive characteristics associated with the increase of cesarean section practice in Mexico].
  Salud publica de Mexico 2013 Suárez-López L, Campero L, De la Vara-Salazar E, Rivera-Rivera L, Hernández-Serrato MI, Walker D, Lazcano-Ponce E
• Non-physician providers of obstetric care in Mexico: Perspectives of physicians, obstetric nurses and professional midwives.
  Human resources for health 2012 Demaria LM, Campero L, Vidler M, Walker D
• PRONTO training for obstetric and neonatal emergencies in Mexico.
  International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics 2011 Walker DM, Cohen SR, Estrada F, Monterroso ME, Jenny A, Fritz J, Fahey JO
• Skilled birth attendants in Mexico: how does care during normal birth by general physicians, obstetric nurses, and professional midwives compare with World Health Organization evidence-based practice guidelines?
  Journal of midwifery & women's health 2011 Walker D, DeMaria LM, Suarez L, Cragin L, Evaluating Alternative Models of Obstetric Care in Mexico Research Team
• [Interventions involving parents in order to impact adolescent sexual behavior].
  Salud publica de Mexico 2011 Atienzo EE, Campero L, Estrada F, Rouse C, Walker D
• Learning effect of a conditional cash transfer programme on poor rural women's selection of delivery care in Mexico.
  Health policy and planning 2011 Sosa-Rubí SG, Walker D, Serván E, Bautista-Arredondo S
• A quasi-experimental evaluation of parents as sexual health educators resulting in delayed sexual initiation and increased access to condoms.
  Journal of adolescence 2010 Campero L, Walker D, Atienzo EE, Gutierrez JP
• Bringing two worlds together: exploring the integration of traditional midwives as doulas in Mexican public hospitals.
  Health care for women international 2010 Smid M, Campero L, Cragin L, Gonzalez Hernandez D, Walker D
• [Sex education and HIV prevention: an evaluation in Latin America and the Caribbean].
  Revista panamericana de salud publica = Pan American journal of public health 2009 Demaria LM, Galárraga O, Campero L, Walker DM
• [Clarification with respect to the article "Utilization of mammography and Papanicolaou tests among women from the rural areas of Mexico"].
  Salud publica de Mexico 2009 Sosa-Rubí SG, Walker D, Serván E
• Parent-adolescent communication about sex in Morelos, Mexico: does it impact sexual behaviour?
  The European journal of contraception & reproductive health care : the official journal of the European Society of Contraception 2009 Atienzo EE, Walker DM, Campero L, Lamadrid-Figueroa H, Gutiérrez JP
• Pharmacy worker practices related to use of misoprostol for abortion in one Mexican state.
  Contraception 2009 Billings DL, Walker D, Mainero del Paso G, Clark KA, Dayananda I
• Educating skilled birth attendants in Mexico: do the curricula meet international confederation of midwives standards?
  Reproductive health matters 2007 Cragin L, DeMaria LM, Campero L, Walker DM
• Herpes simplex virus type 2 among Mexican high school adolescents: prevalence and association with community characteristics.
  Archives of medical research 2007 Gutierrez JP, Conde-González CJ, Walker DM, Bertozzi SM
• [A novel school-based strategy for the prevention of HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted disease (STDs), and teen pregnancies].
  Salud publica de Mexico 2006 Torres P, Walker DM, Gutiérez JP, Bertozzi SM
• Emergency contraception use is correlated with increased condom use among adolescents: results from Mexico.
  The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine 2004 Walker DM, Torres P, Gutierrez JP, Flemming K, Bertozzi SM