Alyssa M. Larish, M.D.

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SUMMARY

Alyssa M. Larish, M.D., studies new ways to find complex pregnancy conditions, such as ectopic pregnancies, by using vaginal tampons to obtain biomarkers. Her interests also include using artificial intelligence to improve detection of invasive placentation and to improve clinical outcomes of patients with focal accreta. Focal accreta happens when a small part of the placenta grows too deeply into the wall of the uterus. Dr. Larish's areas of clinical interest include perinatal mental health and studying the effects of human papillomavirus in pregnancy. One of her goals is to develop a translational test for early detection of ectopic pregnancies.

Focus areas

• Tampon-based biomarker detection. Dr. Larish's currently sponsored work uses a vaginal tampon-based collection of methylated DNA markers to increase early detection of pregnancy location before a pregnancy can be seen on ultrasound. She is expanding this work to detect other pregnancy-associated conditions later in pregnancy before clinical changes occur.
• Invasive placentation. Dr. Larish's previous work has included assessment of maternal morbidity in patients with focal accreta, and not overt or previa-associated placenta accreta. This work showed similar morbidity between groups in spite of the lack of traditional risk factors in patients with focal accreta. Dr. Larish aims to improve earlier detection of accreta, and ultimately focal accreta, by developing an ultrasound based artificial intelligence algorithm.
• Human papillomavirus in pregnancy. Dr. Larish studies the progression of human papillomavirus cervical lesion changes that may be seen during a pregnancy. She also studies the impact of the human papillomavirus itself on pregnancy outcomes in preterm labor and rupture of membranes.
• Perinatal mental health. Dr. Larish studies how pregnancy complications and other conditions affect mental health both during and after pregnancy.

Significance to patient care

Dr. Larish studies new ways to use tampons to find the location of a pregnancy before it can be seen on ultrasound. This test may help patients at risk of ectopic pregnancy or other early pregnancy conditions.

She studies the mental health of patients during and after pregnancy. She also studies how artificial intelligence and ultrasound can be used to find placentas that grow too deeply into the uterus.

Professional highlights

• Excellence in Teaching Award, Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics and Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2024.
• Pilot grant, Women's Health Research Center, Mayo Clinic, 2024.
• Innovation Accelerator Award, Mayo Clinic, 2023.
• Teacher of the Year Award, Mayo Fellows' Association, Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education, Mayo Clinic, 2022.
• Beyond DNA grant, Center for Individualized Medicine, Mayo Clinic, 2020.