Florence Brown, MD
-
Academic Faculty, Clinical Provider, Researcher
-
Adult Diabetes, Gestational Diabetes, Pregnancy
-
Clinical Behavioral and Outcomes
Senior Staff Physician, Joslin Diabetes Center
Co-Director, Joslin and BIDMC Diabetes in Pregnancy Program
Investigator, Joslin Diabetes Center
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
As co-director of the Diabetes and Pregnancy Program at Joslin Diabetes Center and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Dr. Brown’s clinical and research contributions relate primarily to her interest and passion for the treatment of diabetes complicating pregnancy. She has co-edited 3 textbooks in the field, written several chapters, and was part of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) committee that wrote the first comprehensive technical review and guidelines on preexisting diabetes in pregnancy 2008.
Dr. Brown was a member of the ADA Professional Practice Committee for the Standards of Care 2021, 2022, 2023. She was the ADA representative on the Endocrine Society and European Society of Endocrinology Guideline Development Panel for a joint clinical practice guideline on Preexisting Diabetes in Pregnancy published in 2025. Dr. Brown was the Designated Subject Matter Expert for the ADA, Standard of Care (SOC) 2026 and continues in this capacity for SOC 2027 Section 15 pregnancy. She has been an invited speaker at the national meetings of the American Diabetes Association and the Endocrine Society, and for the BIDMC Joslin Harvard Medical School Course.
Dr. Brown’s clinical and translational studies aim to identify mechanisms for pregnancy complications in women with diabetes. This has included evaluating the associations of placental angiogenesis factors (s-flt and PlGF) with pre-eclampsia in preexisting diabetes in pregnancy.
In addition, Dr. Brown has studied associations of insulin pump and continuous glucose monitoring use with pregnancy-related outcomes in 646 pregnancies in 478 women with type 1 diabetes. Her team analyzed the associations of pump vs. MDI use, CGM use vs. non-use and pregnancy-related outcomes using mixed effect models. They found that women with type 1 diabetes who used pump or CGM had better glycemic control during pregnancy; however, pump use was associated with higher birth weight measures including higher birth weight percentile, higher odds of large for gestational age, and macrosomia.
Dr. Brown’s Novel Mediators of Excessive Fetal Growth in Type 1 Diabetes Pregnancy (NUTMEG) study has focused on the role of maternal glycemia (as assessed by continuous glucose monitoring technology), lipids and other nutrients as well as phthalate exposure as a contributor to excessive fetal growth. Her team identified stronger associations between birthweight percentile and large for gestational age (LGA) with the infant cord blood metabolome, including significantly increased abundance of glycerophosphocholines and amino acid metabolites, and with higher maternal triglycerides and with a lower percentage of time spent below range (maternal continuous glucose monitoring metric).
Currently, Dr. Brown is the Joslin site PI of the PRenatal and Obstetric Maternal Exposures and Islet Autoantibodies in Early Life: The PROMISE Study, a multi-center pregnancy cohort study of early life exposures for the onset of autoimmunity. This study is enrolling expectant parents and their offspring in whom either the mother, the father, or a sibling of the fetus has T1D. It includes survey assessments and bio-banking of blood and microbiome in each trimester of pregnancy, cord blood at birth, and neonatal heel stick collections to characterize genetic, epigenetic, and environmental exposures in families with high risk of T1D. Offspring will be followed for 5-6 years for the development of autoantibodies and continue bio-banking of blood.
College: Princeton University
Medical School: Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons
Internship: St. Luke’s Hospital, Internal Medicine
Residency: St. Luke’s Hospital Center
Fellowship Endocrinology: Joslin Diabetes Center and Brigham and Women's Hospital
Board Certification: American Board of Internal Medicine, Sub-Specialty Certification in Endocrinology and Metabolism
Related Experts
