Christine M. O'Brien

Christine M. O'Brien is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis (WashU), affiliated with the McKelvey School of Engineering. She holds an additional role as an Instructor of Radiology. Her research focuses on developing optical spectroscopy and imaging tools to address challenges in maternal-fetal health, reproductive cancers, and global women's health. She leads the O'Brien Lab, which emphasizes translational technologies to improve clinical outcomes.

Education: PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Vanderbilt University (2017), BS from the University of Missouri (2010). Affiliations include the Center for Women’s Health Engineering. Notable achievements include a NIH K99/R00 grant for wearable sensors to detect postpartum hemorrhage, a leading cause of maternal mortality. Recent recognitions include a $320,000 NIH maternal health challenge award (2023) and collaborative work on pulse oximeter bias (2024).

Her work bridges engineering and medicine, with a commitment to global health equity. The lab’s innovations aim to translate optical diagnostics into clinical practice, particularly in low-resource settings.