10/14/2026
Dell Medical School’s Alireza Shamshirsaz, M.D., chief of the Division of Fetal Medicine and Therapy in our Department of Women’s Health, performed Central Texas’s first in utero surgery to treat myelomeningocele, the most severe form of spina bifida.
The surgery took place through the Comprehensive Fetal Care Center, a clinical partnership with Dell Children's Medical Center. Together, we’re expanding access to advanced fetal care for families across Texas.
“Dr. Shamshirsaz’s achievement is a compelling example of how academic medicine can elevate the level of care in a community, bringing the expertise needed to perform extraordinarily complex surgical procedures,” said Claudia Lucchinetti, M.D., dean of Dell Medical School and executive vice president for medical affairs at The University of Texas at Austin.
For families, that expertise means access to complex care closer to home — even before birth.