Caitlin Cross-Barnet, a child and maternal health issues specialist at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Innovation Center in Woodlawn, ended her life March 4. The Reservoir Hill resident was 55.

Her husband, Michael Cross-Barnet, said his wife was being treated for depression.

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, she was the daughter of Max Oeschger, a microbiologist, and Nicole Spalding Oeschger, a biologist who later became a social worker. She later lived in Silver Spring, New Orleans, and Los Angeles before moving to Baltimore in 2004. She was an Oberlin College graduate.

“Her father taught at Georgetown University when she was young, and she recalled that many evenings the family would drive up U.S. 95 from the D.C. suburbs to watch the Orioles and treat themselves to cannoli at Vaccaro’s in Little Italy,” said her husband, a former Baltimore Sun editor.

“She grew up watching Eddie Murray, Jim Palmer, and Mark Belanger play at Memorial Stadium,” he said.

After earning her doctorate from the Johns Hopkins University in sociology in 2010, she worked for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid from 2012 to 2025, where she helped design and evaluate programs to improve pregnancy and child health outcomes.

“Caitlin served our country as a senior research analyst within the CMS Innovation Center,” said Susannah Woodman, supervisory social science researcher with the Innovation Center’s Research and Rapid Cycle Evaluation Group. “Caitlin was a passionate leader and trailblazer in the areas of maternal and child health. She used her research skills, her vast knowledge of maternal health, and her incredible writing ability to identify where change needed to happen.”

Ms. Cross-Barnet served on committees and coalitions devoted to advancing public health, and spoke frequently at conferences on reproductive health care and related issues, her husband said.

She co-wrote an academic book, “Marriage in Black,” and co-authored three dozen articles in child health, preventive medicine and social inequality journals.

“Her innovative ideas and her desire to improve care led to well-designed studies that identified clear, actionable improvements and paved the way for broad, cost-effective change,” Ms. Woodman said. “Caitlin was a strong leader, a thoughtful colleague, and someone who truly cared about each and every person affected by our work. She will be dearly missed, and we are forever grateful for having known her.”

Friends and relatives recalled Ms. Cross-Barnet’s creative and curious spirit and interests including handicrafts, photography, cooking, travel, and birdwatching.

“She loved to knit and make beaded jewelry, often delighting colleagues, friends, and neighbors with her handmade gifts,” her husband said. “An entire room of our house was devoted to her collection of yarn and craft supplies. If you were lucky enough to know Caitlin, eventually, you would own something that she made just for you.”

She also made personalized birthday cakes for her three children and their homemade Halloween costumes.

“Her children were her life,” said a friend, Linda Schubert. “There was always a menagerie of animals in her home. She was wicked smart and would be knitting during an Orioles game at Oriole Park. Her hands were always busy. She was rarely doing only one thing.”

Her husband said she loved her adopted city of Baltimore, its restaurants, historic buildings and distinctive cultural institutions such as the American Visionary Art Museum, Creative Alliance, and Maryland Zoo.

“She loved Druid Hill Park and taking her camera to photograph animals there,” said her husband, executive director of the Friends of Gwynns Falls/Leakin Park.

Although she had previously taught at a private school in Los Angeles, she considered herself a “public school warrior” and sent her own children to Baltimore City Public Schools, her husband said.

She and her husband had a second home in New Orleans. They enjoyed that city’s music and food scene, especially live jazz at Snug Harbor and the boiled shrimp at Frankie and Johnny’s.

In addition to her husband of 34 years, survivors include her children: Emily Cross, Joshua Cross-Barnet, and Ezekiel “Story” Cross-Barnet, all of Baltimore.

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