Dr. Jennifer Kawwass, United States

Jennifer F. Kawwass, MD, joined Emory Reproductive Center in August 2014. A native of Virginia Beach, Virginia, she was valedictorian of her graduating class at Norfolk Academy. She then played Division I field hockey at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina, graduating Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor's degree in biology. She returned to her home state to attend medical school at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, where she received the Medical Alumni Association Outstanding Student Award. In 2007, she moved to Atlanta for her OB/GYN residency at Emory University, where she received numerous teaching, surgical, and research awards and was selected by faculty and peers as administrative chief resident. She remained at Emory for a fellowship in reproductive endocrinology and infertility and received an award for her thesis research project, completed in collaboration with the CDC, where she remains a guest researcher. She was one of a small number of physicians nationwide selected by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine for the CREST Scholar Program. She also serves as one of the clinical directors on the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) Executive Council, the national self-governing organization for fertility physicians and practices.
Dr. Kawwass joined Emory because she sincerely believes Emory Reproductive Center provides exceptional, evidence-based fertility care. She is committed to providing each patient with personalized, optimized care. She recognizes the emotional investment involved in fertility treatment and is dedicated to making each patient's path to parenthood as smooth as possible. Her particular interests include infertility, in vitro fertilization, functional hypothalamic amenorrhea, third-party reproduction, and fertility preservation (oocyte cryopreservation).
As a guest researcher at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Kawwass is also a member of the National ART Surveillance Team. Her recent contributions include publications in Obstetrics & Gynecology (tubal-factor infertility and perinatal outcomes; monozygotic twinning among ART-conceived infants), Fertility and Sterility (assisted hatching trends and outcomes), and JAMA (donor-oocyte trends and predictors of favorable perinatal outcomes; safety of ART in the United States; and ICSI trends and outcomes). Her publications have received national media coverage, including interviews with the Associated Press and USA Today. View the full publication list here: PubMed Link
Dr. Kawwass is board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology and reproductive endocrinology and infertility. She is a member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She speaks fluent English and French, medical Spanish, and conversational Lebanese Arabic.
Outside medicine, Dr. Kawwass enjoys long-distance running, international travel, and spending time at the beach. She and her husband, Peter Thompson, MD, an orthopedic surgeon with Emory Healthcare, enjoy spending time with their two children.

Professional Memberships

CDC – Guest Researcher, Division of Reproductive Health
Member, NASS ART Team SART - Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, Clinical Director
ASRM - American Society for Reproductive Medicine
ACOG - American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

Interpreter Services

Interpreter services are available to ensure that medical information is communicated accurately to patients or family members who are deaf, hard of hearing, or do not speak English.