Cornelia Graves, M.D.

About

Dr. Graves is a graduate of Baylor University, where she received honors. Dr. Graves received her medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and was a recipient of the Purdue Fredrick Award for Excellence in Women’s Healthcare. She completed her internship and residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She completed her maternal-fetal fellowship at Vanderbilt University. During her fellowship, Dr. Graves received special training in obstetrical critical care and became the director of one of the first critical care obstetrical units in the nation. She is currently the medical director of Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialists of Tennessee and the medical director for perinatal services at St Thomas Health Systems. She is also a professor at the University of Tennessee and serves as a clinical professor for Vanderbilt University and adjunct professor Meharry Medical College.

Considered an international expert in the management of maternal disease, Dr. Graves is extensively published and has received numerous teaching, research, professional and community awards. She has been actively involved in research and has served as an investigator on studies involving asthma, HIV, diabetes and drug addiction during pregnancy. She is an immediate past member of the board of directors of the Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine.

In 2016, Dr. Graves, along with Dr. Stacy Davis, a cardiologist, started the Collaborative Perinatal Cardiac Center, a joint venture between Tennessee Maternal Fetal Medicine and St. Thomas Health, which is one of the first in the nation to address maternal heart care from the preconception period through postpartum care with a focus of long-term prevention.

She has been instrumental in the formation of a Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC) for the State of Tennessee and currently serves as a member of the review committee and a member of the CDC committee on bias in maternal mortality. She is currently the co-chair of the ACOG/CDC committee on racism and bias in MMRC, as well as a member of the SMFM committee on cardio-obstetrics. She also serves as the project leader and advisor for the maternal section of TIPQC. Dr. Graves was chosen as Nashville Business Journal’s Best Doctors of 2024.

In her spare time, Dr. Graves serves as a keyboardist and choir director for her church and works with the youth ministry.