The Department of Pediatrics is established at UC San Diego.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advises physicians to stop prescribing DES to pregnant women because it was linked to a rare vaginal cancer in female children born to women who took the medication during pregnancy.

Dr. Jones coins the term “fetal alcohol syndrome” as he and Dr. David W. Smith first identify FAS in the United States while at the University of Washington.

Dr. Jones takes a position with the UC San Diego Department of Pediatrics.

Gerald F. “Buzz” Chernoff (pictured at right, with Dr. Jones) performs an experiment on mice and proves the association between alcohol consumption and the pattern of malformations seen in fetal alcohol syndrome.

The 1st Annual David Smith Workshop is held in La Jolla, California – a forum to discuss findings in human malformations and morphogenesis. This was the only workshop Dr. Smith attended before he passed away six months later.

Dr. Jones assists with the 3rd edition of the book, “Smith’s Recognizable Patterns of Human Malformation, following the death of his friend and mentor Dr. David W. Smith (pictured above) in 1981.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announces that valproic acid and sodium valproate, medications used to treat epilepsy, should be considered human teratogens, as evidence emerged linking their use in pregnancy to an increased risk of spina bifida in an infant.

Dr. Jones publishes the 4th edition of the book, “Smith’s Recognizable Patterns of Human Malformation”.

Dr. Jones receives the Clair Burgener Foundation Service Award.

Future Center for Better Beginnings faculty member Dr. Miguel del Campo Casanelles (pictured at left with Dr. Jones) comes to UC San Diego to begin his 3-year fellowship training in Genetics and Dysmorphology, under the mentorship of Dr. Jones.

The OTIS Collaborative Research Center is established in UCSD’s Division of Dysmorphology & Teratology to systematically study the safety of medications and vaccines when used in pregnancy. The program will later be known as MotherToBaby Pregnancy Studies.

September 19th, 1999 is resolved to be California Teratogen Information Service-Birth Defects Prevention Week by the California Legislature and the San Diego City Council. This recognizes more than twenty years of service by Dr. Jones via the California Teratogen Information Service he established in 1978.

The California Teratogen Information Service (later known as MotherToBaby California) begins marketing services directly to pregnant women and their families as a result of an appropriation received from the State of California.

California Teratogen Information Service receives a Certificate of Congressional Recognition on behalf of Lucille Roybal-Alllard, Member of Congress for the 33rd Congressional District.

Dr. Jones again recognized in the field of Pediatrics in America’ Top Doctors.

Dr. Jones receives the Josef Warkany Lecturer Award from the Teratology Society.

Dr. Jones receives the Bock Prize and Lectureship in Developmental Biology and Genetics from the Department of Pediatrics, Jefferson Medical College and the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children of the Nemours Foundation.

The County of San Diego proclaims September 9th, 2005 Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Awareness Day, commending the Southern California Affiliate of the National Organization of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (SoCal NOFAS).

Dr. Chambers receives the F. Clarke Fraser New Investigator Award from the Teratology Society.

Dr. Chambers lands the front page of The San Diego Union-Tribune after publishing a study examining selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in pregnancy, and linking use of the medications to an increased risk of persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN).

Dr. Jones is awarded the Class Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award which provides a 3-year grant at $100K per year.

Dr. Chambers serves as President of the Teratology Society.

A national surveillance system of the safety of drugs and vaccines when used in pregnancy launches; known as the Vaccines and Medications in Pregnancy Surveillance System (VAMPSS), the effort is led by the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) in collaboration with UCSD (Dr. Chambers) and Boston University.

Dr. Chambers is awarded a highly competitive 5-year grant from HRSA’s Maternal Child Health Bureau for “Leadership in Education in Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics.”

Dr. Jones receives the Dr. David W. Smith Teaching Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics Section of Genetics and Birth Defects.

Dr. Chambers is named the Director of Clinical Research at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego.

SoCal NOFAS, originally named CalFAS, is re-organized and establishes a partnership with UCSD and Rady Children's Hospital (pictured L-R: Dr. Jones; Dr. Chambers; Peggy Combs-Way, SoCal NOFAS President, Julie Pollack, SoCal NOFAS Vice President; and Diana Simmes, SoCal NOFAS Secretary).

In response to the H1N1 crisis, Dr. Chambers publishes results from a national study of the safety of the H1N1 vaccine, determining that there is no evidence for increased risk when used in pregnancy.

Dr. Jones and Dr. del Campo publish the 7th edition of the book, Smith’s Recognizable Patterns of Human Malformation.

The Institute for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Discovery (IFASDD) is established as a partnership between the Center & Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego.

Mommy’s Milk Human Milk Research Biorepository is established at the Center for Better Beginnings as a joint project between the Center, Rady Children’s Hospital and the UC San Diego Clinical and Translational Research Institute (CTRI).

Dr. Chambers is named Vice Chair of Clinical Research in the Department of Pediatrics at UC San Diego.

Dr. Chambers receives the Rady’s Children’s Hospital San Diego Excellence in Research Award.

Dr. Jones honored at the 2015 NOFAS International Gala, addressing leaders in Washington D.C.

Dr. Chambers receives the Patricia Rodier Mid-Career Award for Research and Mentoring, a joint award of the Teratology Society and the Developmental Neurotoxicology Society.

1^st annual Nine Months Matter: Walkfest for Alcohol-Free Pregnancy is held at Liberty Station in San Diego, CA with Dr. Jones, SoCal NOFAS, and the Rady Children's Hospital Auxiliary as key organizers.

The Study of Mothers and Infants (SOMI) launches. SOMI is investigating a variety of important topics that are impacting maternal and child health in San Diego by combining multiple datasets that have been collected since 2008 and which will continue to be collected until 2028. These datasets will ultimately represent a total of 1 million mother-child pairs. SOMI is a collaboration between investigators at universities and organizations across San Diego County and the State of California, including the Center for Better Beginnings.

MotherToBaby California turns 40! Established in 1978 by Dr. Jones as the California Teratogen Information Service, this service is relied upon by pregnant and breastfeeding parents, healthcare providers, and the general public to provide free, unbiased, evidence-based information about exposures during pregnancy and lactation.

Dr. Miguel del Campo is named director of UC San Diego’s residency program in Medical Genetics and Genomics.

Dr. Chambers is named Director of Epidemiology and Community Studies for the Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine.

The Center is one of 27 sites across the U.S. to receive funding for the planning phase of the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study. Led locally by Dr. Chambers, the planning phase of the study was intended investigators at the study sites to design recruitment strategies and data collection protocols for a future, large-scale study to evaluate fetal and child neurodevelopment from pregnancy through 9 years of age.

Dr. Miguel del Campo is named Genetics section chief at Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego.

Within days of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., our MotherToBaby Pregnancy Studies program opened recruitment to pregnant people who were infected with or exposed to COVID-19 infection.

Dr. Chambers is selected by the UC San Diego Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Women to be UCSD’s nominee for the YWCA’s Tribute to Women & Industry Awards (TWIN). The TWIN award recognizes women in a managerial, executive, or leadership roles for their extraordinary achievements. 

As COVID-19 vaccines began to roll-out following Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA in December 2020, our MotherToBaby Pregnancy Studies program and our Mommy’s Milk program rapidly opened studies to evaluate the use of these vaccines during pregnancy and lactation.

Dr. Chambers is selected to give the Lucille Hurley Distinguished Lectureship to the UC Davis Graduate Group in Nutritional Biology.

UC San Diego receives three awards to support the national Healthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study. This study is a multi-site, NIH-funded study that will recruit 7,500 pregnant people across the U.S. and follow the mothers and their baby for 10 years to better understand infant and childhood neurodevelopment. The awards include serving as the Administrative Coordinating Center for all HBCD study sites (PIs: Christina Chambers, UC San Diego; and Charles Nelson, Harvard Medical School); serving as the Data Coordinating Center for all HBCD study sites (PIs: Anders Dale, UC San Diego; Damien Fair, University of Minnesota; and Chris Smyser, Washington University); and funding to support San Diego County as one of the study recruitment sites (PIs: Gretchen Bandoli and Sheila Gahagan, UC San Diego).

Dr. Kenneth Lyons Jones officially retires as Division Chief of Division of Dysmorphology & Teratology at UC San Diego and from the Rady Children's Hospital Department of Pediatrics. After 48 years as a pediatrician and dedicated advocate for children diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, he continues to contribute to the Center through MotherToBaby California and MotherToBaby Pregnancy Studies activities.

UC San Diego launches the Human Milk Institute to accelerate research into the nature, biology, and therapeutic potential of human milk to prevent or treat infant and adult diseases. The institute harmonizes efforts across multiple, ongoing programs at UC San Diego related to human milk and lactation, including the Center’s Mommy’s Milk Human Milk Research Biorepository.

Dr. Charlotte Hobbs joins the faculty of the UC San Diego Division of Dysmorphology and Teratology and the Center for Better Beginnings. Dr. Hobbs also serves as Vice President and Chief Research & Clinical Management Officer of Rady Children’s Institute Genomic Medicine.