About

Kurt T. Barnhart, MD, MSCE, is the William Shippen, Jr. Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Pennsylvania. He is an attending physician at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and serves as the Director of the Reproductive Research Unit within the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. Dr. Barnhart is also a Senior Scholar at the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics and an Associate Director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility. His role includes directing the Women's Health Clinical Research Center and serving as Vice Chair for Clinical Research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. His work focuses on reproductive medicine, with particular emphasis on fertility, pregnancy outcomes, and clinical research in obstetrics and gynecology.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Family medicine
• Obstetrics
• Gynecology
• Intensive care medicine
• Biology
• Cell biology
• Computational biology
• Anatomy

Selected publications

• Recommendation to improve the rigor and impact of nonrandomized studies of interventions in fertility treatment research

  Fertility and Sterility · 2025-06-02 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access

  OBJECTIVE: To provide a framework for conducting rigorous nonrandomized studies of interventions in fertility treatment research, addressing their role as complements to randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in evaluating treatment outcomes. DESIGN: Multidisciplinary expert consensus on best practices for nonrandomized studies of interventions, informed by advancements in novel methodologies, including causal inference. SUBJECTS: Patients undergoing assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) procedures, such as ovarian stimulation, laboratory techniques, and embryo transfer. INTERVENTION: None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Guidance on methodological rigor, transparency, and relevance in nonrandomized studies of interventions study design and analysis. RESULTS: Randomized controlled trials are the gold standard for determining the efficacy and safety of fertility treatment/ART interventions but can face logistical, practical, and sometimes ethical challenges. Nonrandomized studies of interventions, when conducted with high methodological rigor, complement RCTs by offering insights into real-world clinical practices and diverse patient populations. Key limitations of nonrandomized studies of interventions include susceptibility to confounding and selection bias, which require meticulous study design and advanced analytical techniques to address. Recent innovations, such as target trial emulation studies, have enhanced the validity of causal inferences based on nonrandomized studies of interventions. This article outlines 7 recommendations to improve the credibility of nonrandomized studies of interventions in ART research: clearly define research questions with precise estimands; design nonrandomized studies of interventions as emulated trials; use directed acyclic graphs to clarify causal assumptions; preregister study protocols; separate data analysis from study planning; incorporate negative controls to detect biases; and use appropriate analytical methods to account for confounding and selection bias. CONCLUSION: Integrating evidence from RCTs and well-conducted nonrandomized studies of interventions enhances clinical decision making in fertility treatment research. By adhering to these recommendations, researchers can improve the quality, transparency, and impact of nonrandomized studies of interventions, ultimately fostering robust, evidence-based clinical practices in fertility treatment/ART.

  PublisherDOI

• FUSOBACTERIUM NUCLEATUM IS NOT SIGNIFICANTLY PRESENT IN EUTOPIC ENDOMETRIUM FROM PATIENTS WITH MODERATE AND SEVERE ENDOMETRIOSIS

  Fertility and Sterility · 2025-12-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Human embryo testing and phased validation: from innovation to practice

  Fertility and Sterility · 2025-10-15

  editorialOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Progestin IUDs and Ectopic Pregnancy — A Call for Context, Not Concern

  NEJM Evidence · 2025-11-25

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Fertility and Sterility: a journal that built a specialty

  Fertility and Sterility · 2025-07-08

  editorialOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Levels of evaluation of preimplantation testing of human embryos

  Fertility and Sterility · 2025-10-15 · 1 citations

  review1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Navigating Uncertainty: Expectant or Active Management for Persisting Pregnancy of Unknown Location?

  Journal of Reproductive Medicine and Embryology · 2025-02-01

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Fusobacterium nucleatum is not significantly present in eutopic endometrium from patients with minimal-mild and moderate-severe endometriosis

  Fertility and Sterility · 2025-07-01 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Association between markers of female adiposity and live birth among patients undergoing fertility treatment or attempting unassisted conception

  Human Reproduction · 2025-06-21

  articleOpen access

  STUDY QUESTION: Beyond BMI, are there better predictors of the impact of high female adiposity on reproductive outcomes in patients undergoing fertility treatment or attempting unassisted conception? SUMMARY ANSWER: Though BMI remains a predictor of fertility outcomes, alternative markers of adiposity, such as percent body fat, provide distinct information and may be more strongly associated with outcomes than BMI. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Elevated BMI is associated with a lower probability of live birth, though randomized trials have not consistently demonstrated the efficacy of weight loss for increasing live birth among patients utilizing infertility treatment. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: This was a secondary analysis of data gathered from 2013 to 2017 during the Folic Acid and Zinc Supplementation Trial (FAZST). Participants in FAZST included 2370 heterosexual couples seeking infertility care at four US fertility centers. Couples were followed for 9 months while undergoing fertility treatments or attempting unassisted conception, with up to 9 additional months of follow-up if pregnancy occurred. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: For inclusion in the present study, female participants must have had at least one marker of adiposity measured at their baseline visit for FAZST. The primary exposure was high adiposity (defined by commonly used cutoffs in the literature) by each of five markers: BMI, percent body fat measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), serum leptin, serum adiponectin/leptin ratio, and waist circumference. Of the participants in FAZST, BMI was available for 99.6%, percent body fat for 7.3% (DXA only offered to 218 participants at two study sites between 2016 and 2017), leptin for 89.7%, adiponectin/leptin ratio for 89.7%, and waist circumference for 90.9%. Generalized linear models including age, race, parity, education, physical activity, male partner BMI ≥30 kg/m2, and Healthy Eating Index were used to estimate the relative risk of live birth. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: High adiposity by BMI was associated with decreased probability of live birth (adjusted relative risk [aRR] 0.85, 95% CI 0.74-0.98). The other markers demonstrated similar associations, though a stronger effect size was seen with percent body fat (aRR 0.34, 95% CI 0.22-0.55). In an analysis by tertile, even moderately elevated percent body fat was associated with a decrease in live birth. When stratifying by infertility treatment status, associations were attenuated for most markers in the group utilizing infertility treatment, though percent body fat remained significantly associated with live birth. However, this marker was only available in a subset of participants. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: Only a subset of participants underwent DXA scans and had data on percent body fat, limiting the generalizability of the finding that this marker was most strongly associated with live birth. There were few participants with low BMIs, limiting the ability to draw conclusions on how low adiposity may affect reproductive outcomes. Findings may not be generalizable to the non-infertility population. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: The findings support prior data that high adiposity is associated with a lower probability of live birth. While most markers of adiposity performed similarly to BMI, there may be a role for percent body fat as an alternative assessment of adiposity, particularly among patients utilizing infertility treatment. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S): The FAZST and Impact of Diet, Exercise, and Lifestyle studies were supported by the Intramural Research Program of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland (contracts HHSN275201200007C, HHSN275201500001C, HHSN275201300026I/HHSN27500008, and HHSN275201300026I/HHSN27500018). There are no conflicts of interest to declare. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT00467363 (secondary analysis).

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Top 10 priorities for future ectopic pregnancy research: an international consensus development study

  Fertility and Sterility · 2025-09-27

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Reproductive Epidemiology Training Grant

  NIH · $8.0M · 1996–2022

• NIH Grant R01HD036455

  NIH · $4.4M · 2012

• Development of a serum biosignature for ectopic pregnancy.

  NIH · $3.4M · 2014–2020

• NIH Grant K24HD060687

  NIH · $956k · 2015

Frequent coauthors

• Mary D. Sammel

  445 shared

• Mitchell D. Creinin

  University of California, Davis

  440 shared

• Abike James

  Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

  400 shared

• Carolyn Westhoff

  Columbia University Irving Medical Center

  378 shared

• Jerry M. Gilles

  Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

  338 shared

• Christos Coutifaris

  308 shared

• Michael P. Diamond

  235 shared

• Heping Zhang

  Public Health Department

  233 shared

Labs

• Reproductive Research Unit, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Hospital of the University of PennsylvaniaPI

Awards & honors

• William Shippen, Jr. Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Diplomat, National Board of Medical Examiners
• Senior Scholar, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostat…
• Member, Biomedical Graduate Studies, University of Pennsylva…
• Associate Director, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology &…