Digna Velez Edwards

Digna Velez Edwards is an Associate Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Department of Biomedical Informatics at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. She serves as Division Director of Quantitative Sciences and Director of the Women's Health Research Center, and is an Investigator at the Vanderbilt Genetics Institute and a member of the Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center. Her work integrates genetics, epidemiology, and clinical informatics to advance understanding of women's health and health disparities.

Education:

• PhD, Vanderbilt University, 2008
• MS, Vanderbilt University, 2008
• Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Miami, 2009

Dr. Velez Edwards is a genetic epidemiologist with a focus on identifying genetic risk factors for complex diseases that disproportionately affect minority populations and impact women's reproductive health. Her research emphasizes uterine fibroids, preterm birth, miscarriage, pelvic organ prolapse, and keloids. She investigates the interplay between genetic and environmental factors contributing to racial and ethnic disparities in disease risk.

Her research leverages large-scale resources such as the Right from the Start pregnancy cohort—a community-based prospective cohort—and integrates electronic health record (EHR) data linked to genomic information. She applies advanced methodologies including genome-wide association studies (GWAS), next-generation sequencing, biomarker evaluation, and phenome-wide association studies (PheWAS) to uncover genetic determinants of disease.

Dr. Velez Edwards has built and manages a biospecimen repository from the Right from the Start cohort, enabling genetic epidemiological studies on reproductive complications and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Her work supports precision medicine initiatives and aims to reduce health disparities through data-driven discovery.

She is actively involved in multidisciplinary research teams and leads key initiatives in women's health and quantitative sciences. Her leadership roles reflect her contributions to advancing research infrastructure and scientific collaboration at Vanderbilt.