Dr. Kenneth Jones, a dysmorphologist and clinical teratologist, and Dr. Christina Chambers, a perinatal epidemiologist, are involved in efforts to improve policies regarding drug safety during pregnancy, both in California and at the federal level. They are involved in active clinical and epidemiological research programs in California, and collaborate with scientists at Boston University, as well as in Australia, South Africa, Russia, Ukraine, Mexico and Brazil. They also maintain a strong commitment to teaching at the undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral levels, and participate in many programs for trainees in the areas of pediatrics, epidemiology, and behavioral health, as well as in the School of Pharmacy.

The Division is involved in three major areas: (1) an extremely active clinical service in San Diego County and the Tijuana region of Mexico; (2) a highly productive and extraordinarily well-funded research program focused on better understanding the etiology and developmental pathogenesis of birth defects; and (3) a teaching program that includes undergraduate students, graduate students in epidemiology, medical students, and postdoctoral students.