Skip to main content

Susan Kay Murphy

Associate Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology
Obstetrics and Gynecology, Reproductive Sciences
Duke PO Box 90534, the Chesterfield Building, Durham, NC 27701
701 W. Main Street, Suite 510, Room 5140, Durham, NC 27701

Overview


Dr. Murphy is a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and serves as Chief of the Division of Reproductive Sciences. As a molecular biologist with training in human epigenetics, her research interests are largely centered around the role of epigenetic modifications in health and disease. 

Dr. Murphy has ongoing projects on gynecologic malignancies, including approaches to eradicate ovarian cancer cells that survive chemotherapy and later give rise to recurrent disease. Dr. Murphy is actively involved in many collaborative projects relating to the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD).

Her lab is currently working on preconception environmental exposures in males, particularly on the impact of cannabis on the sperm epigenome and the potential heritability of these effects. They are also studying the epigenetic and health effects of in utero exposures, with primary focus on children from the Newborn Epigenetics STudy (NEST), a pregnancy cohort she co-founded who were recruited from central North Carolina between 2005 and 2011. Dr. Murphy and her colleagues continue to follow NEST children to determine relationships between prenatal exposures and later health outcomes.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Associate Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology · 2014 - Present Obstetrics and Gynecology, Reproductive Sciences, Obstetrics and Gynecology
Chief, Division of Reproductive Sciences in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology · 2017 - Present Obstetrics and Gynecology, Reproductive Sciences, Obstetrics and Gynecology
Associate Professor in Pathology · 2012 - Present Pathology, Clinical Science Departments
Associate Professor in the Division of Environmental Science and Policy · 2017 - Present Environmental Sciences and Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute · 1998 - Present Duke Cancer Institute, Institutes and Centers

Education, Training & Certifications


Wake Forest University · 1998 Ph.D.
University of North Carolina, Charlotte · 1992 B.A.