
Dilys Walker is an American and Mexican Board Certified obstetrician gynecologist who is an associate professor in the departments of Obstetrics and Gynecolgy and Global Health at the University of Washington in Seattle, visiting professor at UCSF in Obstetrics and Genecology and Global Health Sciences, and a Bixby Faculty Associate. She is also a visiting associate professor in Reproductive Health at the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico, where she worked from 1998- 2009. Her principal research interests have been maternal mortality and morbidity, abortion, family planning, and adolescent reproductive health with a focus in Mexico. She is involved in the Oportunidades reproductive health evaluation, focusing on family planning, quality of prenatal and obstetric care, obstacles to institutionalized obstetric care, and critical links in the process of seeking and attaining obstetric care. She led a study comparing quality of care provided by professional midwives, obstetric nurses, and general physicians in Mexico which contributed to the federal change in policy to re-open formal staff positions for professional midwives. Dr. Walker and her team developed a novel approach to emergency training- PRONTO -using highly-realistic simulation and team training to improve obstetric and neonatal outcomes. She is currently running PRONTO implementation trials in Mexico, Guatemala and Kenya. Pilot trainings are planned in 2014 for India, Namibia and Ethiopia. She is looking forward to collaborating with Bixby faculty and students.