SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwire - April 20, 2009) - Seventeen leading medical authorities from prominent universities and health care organizations throughout the state have been named to the Scientific Advisory Board of the California Teratogen Information Service (CTIS), a non-profit founded and directed by faculty and staff from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. Serving the entire state of California, the organization provides research and education to help prevent prenatal exposures to drugs, alcohol, medications and other toxins that can cause birth defects.

"We are extremely excited and honored to have these professionals on our advisory board," said Dr. Kenneth Lyons Jones, CTIS medical director and a well-known authority on fetal alcohol syndrome. "Their wide range of experiences and expertise will help further our mission of offering the latest information and best medical resources to expectant moms and their health care providers to reduce the risk of exposures during pregnancy and breastfeeding."

The recently announced CTIS scientific advisory board, comprised of regionally and nationally recognized physicians, researchers and clinicians, includes:

--  Christine Moutier, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry and
    assistant dean for student affairs at the School of Medicine, University of
    California, San Diego;
    
--  Linda Marie Randolph, M.D., assistant clinical professor of pediatrics
    and head of the division of medical genetics at the Keck School of
    Medicine, University of Southern California and Children's Hospital of Los
    Angeles;
    
--  Angela Chen, M.D., MPH, assistant professor of obstetrics and
    gynecology, family planning division director and medical director of the
    OBGYN Clinic at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of
    California, Los Angeles;
    
--  David Schatz, M.D., resident in psychiatry at the Stanford School of
    Medicine;
    
--  Kelly E. Ormond, M.S., associate professor of genetics and director of
    the human genetics and genetic counseling program at the Stanford School of
    Medicine;
    
--  Janet Adamian, MPH, director, Logan Heights Family Health Center;
    
--  Jennifer Namazy, M.D., division of allergy and immunology at Scripps
    Clinic in La Jolla;
    
--  Leslie W. Tam, M.D., reproductive psychiatrist in private practice,
    assistant clinical professor of psychiatry, University of California, San
    Diego;
    
--  John P. McHugh, M.D., FACOG, American College of Obstetrics and
    Gynecology: California State Advisory Council;
    
--  Jason B. Sauberan, PharmD., clinical pharmacologist, neonatal-
    perinatal services, University of California, San Diego Medical Center;
    
--  Michael Schatz, M.D., M.S. chief of the department of allergy at
    Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Diego;
    
--  Thomas R. Moore, M.D., professor and chairman of the department of
    reproductive medicine, University of California, San Diego;
    
--  Diane Masser-Frye, M.S.W., M.S., C.G.C., genetic counselor, Rady
    Children's Hospital;
    
--  David Sacks, M.D., director of the division of maternal-fetal
    medicine, Kaiser Foundation Hospital;
    
--  Jessica Kingston, M.D., assistant clinical professor of reproductive
    medicine at the School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego;
    
--  Philip Anderson, PharmD., health sciences clinical professor of
    pharmacy, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmeceutical Sciences, University
    of California, San Diego; and
    
--  Michael Lu, M.D., MPH, associate professor of obstetrics and
    gynecology at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of
    California, Los Angeles and associate professor of community health
    sciences at the School of Public Health, University of California, Los
    Angeles UCLA.
    

Founded 27 years ago and housed at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, CTIS offers a free Pregnancy Risk Information Line at 1-800-532-3749 that fields questions (in both English and Spanish) about exposure concerns and where to find medical advice and referral resources to pregnant and breastfeeding women and their families.

Recently, CTIS launched a new web site (www.ctispregnancy.org) that provides links to the most current information about potentially harmful exposures -- from illnesses to environmental toxins and hazardous occupational materials -- before, during and after pregnancy. It also can lead women and their families and health care providers to other knowledgeable resources and teratology professionals that specialize in birth defects caused by exposures during pregnancy.

For more information about CTIS, its scientific advisory board or its free telephone and online services, call 1-800-532-3749 or log onto www.ctispregnancy.org.