Dr. Robert E. Fleming, MD

Expert Publications

• Cord serum ferritin levels, fetal iron status, and neurodevelopmental outcomes: correlations and confounding variables.
• Decreased liver hepcidin expression in the Hfe knockout mouse.
• Successful use of somatostatin in a case of neonatal chylothorax.
• Advances in understanding the molecular basis for the regulation of dietary iron absorption.
• Orchestration of iron homeostasis.
• Iron Imports. VI. HFE and regulation of intestinal iron absorption.
• Hepcidin activation during inflammation: make it STAT.
• Effects of iron loading on muscle: genome-wide mRNA expression profiling in the mouse.
• HFE association with transferrin receptor 2 increases cellular uptake of transferrin-bound iron.
• Iron and inflammation: cross-talk between pathways regulating hepcidin.
• Iron sensing as a partnership: HFE and transferrin receptor 2.
• Expression of iron-related genes in human brain and brain tumors.
• Global transcriptional response to Hfe deficiency and dietary iron overload in mouse liver and duodenum.
• Iron uptake from plasma transferrin by a transferrin receptor 2 mutant mouse model of haemochromatosis.
• Hepatocyte-targeted HFE and TFR2 control hepcidin expression in mice.

Media Releases

Get to know Neonatal-Perinatal Physician Dr. Robert E. Fleming, who serves patients in St. Louis, Missouri.

Dr. Fleming is a board certified pediatrician and neonatal-perinatal physician who sees patients at SLUCare Physician Group in St. Louis, Missouri. Furthermore, he is a Secondary Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Edward A. Doisy Research Center at Saint Louis University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. He is also a Professor of Pediatrics and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at the Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. 

Dr. Fleming is affiliated with multiple SSM Health hospitals, including SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis, MO, SSM Health DePaul Hospital in Bridgeton, MO, SSM Health St. Clare Hospital in Fenton, MO, SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital in Lake St. Louis, MO, SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital in St. Charles, MO, and SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in St. Louis, MO. 

Dr. Fleming cares for premature and extremely premature infants, normal and sick newborns, and those in Level II-IV neonatal intensive care. He provides antenatal consultation for expectant mothers. Moreover, he sees babies in outpatient care in the high-risk nursery clinic. From a research perspective, Dr. Fleming maintains an active interest in the molecular biology of iron metabolism and erythropoiesis.

Dr. Fleming graduated from Saint Louis University School of Medicine (STL), where he received his medical degree in 1984. He then completed both his internship and residency in pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (1984 – 1987). For his fellowship in neonatal medicine, Dr. Fleming attended St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO (1987 – 1990). 

Following her training, Dr. Fleming attained board certification pediatrics and the subspecialty of neonatal-perinatal medicine with the American Board of Pediatrics. The American Board of Pediatrics was founded in 1933. It is one of the 24 certifying boards of the American Board of Medical Specialties. The ABP is an independent and nonprofit organization.

Pediatrics is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends individuals be under pediatric care up to the age of 21. Pediatricians provide medical care to people ranging in age from newborns to young adults. They are trained to examine, diagnose, and treat children with a wide variety of injuries and illnesses through all of their developmental stages, as they grow and mature.

Neonatal-perinatal medicine is a subspecialty of pediatrics concerned with the care of critically ill newborn and premature infants. Neonatologists diagnose and treat newborns with conditions such as breathing disorders, infections, or birth defects; coordinate care and medically manage newborns born prematurely, critically ill, or in need of surgery; stabilize and treat newborns with any life-threatening medical problems; attend a delivery after which the infant may require medical intervention; and consult with obstetricians, pediatricians, and family physicians about conditions affecting newborn infants and caring for mothers who have high-risk pregnancies.

Dr. Fleming has been listed among Best Doctors for many years from 2005 through to 2020. He is also one of the Best Doctors as listed in St. Louis Magazine. A member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, dr. Fleming is the director of the Newborn Care Project for East Caribbean Cooperative with the World Pediatric Project. He additionally serves as an assistant editor for the American Journal of Hematology.

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