Rebecca A. Simmons, MD
COVID-19: Is the Placenta a Safe Place?

Dr. Simmons is the Hallam Hurt Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She is the director of the Perinatal Research Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the deputy director of the NIEHS funded Center for Excellence in Environment and Toxicology, and a PI of the March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Simmons received her BS and MD at the University of Arizona and her postdoctoral training at the University of California at San Francisco. She joined the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania in 1997 and has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health. Her main research interests are focused on the causal mechanistic links between the intrauterine milieu and type II diabetes and obesity in the adult with a focus on epigenetics and mitochondria function.  She is author and co-author of more than 100 scientific research publications, reviews and book chapters. Her motto is : “Scientific Success: It Takes a Village”.

Rebecca Linn, MD
COVID-19: Is the Placenta a Safe Place?

Dr. Rebecca Linn is a pediatric pathologist and assistant professor of Clinical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine with primary appointment in the Division of Anatomic Pathology at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Dr. Linn is a pediatric pathologist with additional training and expertise in perinatal and placental pathology. Her primary research focus is on the study of placental development and its relationship to maternal, fetal and neonatal disease. She has recently collaborated with Dr. J. William Gaynor to evaluate the impact that placental pathology, altered placental angiogenesis and underlying genetic risk factors have on clinical outcomes in infants with congenital heart defects. As the Director of Placental Pathology for the Birth Defects Biorepository, she has directed the collection, analysis and storage of biospecimens from deliveries in the CHOP Special Delivery Unit. 

Lauren Wise, Sc.D
Internet-based preconception cohort studies: methods and selected findings

Dr. Wise joined the Department of Epidemiology in 2004 after completing her doctorate at the Harvard School of Public Health. She has an interest in reproductive and perinatal epidemiology. Her research involves the study of benign gynecologic conditions, delayed conception, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Dr. Wise is principal investigator of Boston University Pregnancy Study Online (PRESTO) and co-investigator of Snart Gravid ("Soon Pregnant") and Snart Foraeldre ("Soon Parents") studies, web-based prospective cohort studies of time-to-pregnancy and birth outcomes in North America and Denmark (http://presto.bu.edu). Dr. Wise is also principal investigator of NIH-funded studies investigating environmental and genetic determinants of uterine fibroids in African-American women, including an ancillary R01 study of endocrine-disrupting chemicals and fibroids in the Study of Environment, Lifestyle, and Fibroids (SELF) in Detroit, Michigan (http://www.detroitself.org/).

Liisa Galea, PhD
There and back again from preclinical models to clinical outcome: Embracing the heterogeneity of perinatal depression

Liisa Galea is a professor in the Department of Psychology and Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, director of the Graduate Program in Neuroscience, lead of Women’s Health Research Cluster, and a scientific advisor at Women’s Health Research Institute at the University of British Columbia. Her research goal is to improve brain health for women and men by examining the influence of sex and sex hormones on normal and diseased brain states such as depression and Alzheimer’s disease. She was the first researcher world-wide to develop preclinical models of postpartum depression and was one of the first to study the long-term effects of motherhood on the brain. Dr. Galea obtained her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Western University and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Rockefeller University. She is a Distinguished University Scholar, is a twice winner of the NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada)-Discovery Accelerator Supplement, received the Michael Smith Senior Scholar Award, Cattell Sabbatical Award, and the Vancouver YWCA Women of Distinction award. Liisa was recognized as a Fellow at International Behavioral Neuroscience Society (IBNS). She has an H index of 69 (Google) and over 160 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Galea is the chief editor of FiN (Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology IF: 9.059), past section editor for eNeuro and Neuroscience, and serves/served on the editorial boards of Endocrinology, Hormones and Behavior, and Neuroscience. Dr. Galea served on peer review panels for National Institute of Health (US), Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), Wellcome Trust(UK) and NSERC. She has secured over $7M as PI. She is a President-Elect of the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences (OSSD) and serves on numerous committees (Canadian Association for Neuroscience: Advocacy, EDI, Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, IBNS) and advisory boards (e.g. Institute for Gender and Health CIHR).

Hilary Brown, PhD
Perinatal mental illness and risk of incident autoimmune disease

Hilary Brown, PhD, is an assistant professor at the University of Toronto and an adjunct scientist at Women’s College Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences. Dr. Brown holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Disability & Reproductive Health. Her research program, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the National Institutes of Health, uses epidemiologic methods to examine maternal and child health across the life course, with a focus on populations with disabilities and chronic illness

Dr. Souvik Mitra
The curious case of the patent ductus arteriosus in preterm infants: Where evidence and practice refuse to align!

Dr. Souvik Mitra is a staff neonatologist and assistant professor of Pediatrics, cross-appointed with the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. He completed his fellowship in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine and MSc in Clinical Epidemiology from McMaster University and is currently pursuing his PhD in Epidemiology and Applied Health Research from Dalhousie University. His primary research interests revolve around improving outcomes of preterm babies with hemodynamic issues, especially the patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). He is the Principal Investigator of an ongoing CIHR funded pan-Canadian study comparing the different medications currently used for treating a PDA. He has authored several systematic reviews on the management of PDA in preterm infants that have been published in reputed journals including the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. He is the co-chair of the EPIQ (Evidence Based Practice for Improving Quality) Hemodynamic Group of the Canadian Neonatal Network which is involved in developing evidence-based clinical practice bundles for preterm infants with hemodynamic issues

Richard Oster, PhD
Using innovative, collaborative designs with Indigenous communities to improve Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD)-related wellness

Dr Richard Oster uses mixed-methods, strengths-based, and community-based participatory research approaches to collaboratively address Indigenous health concerns related to diabetes and other chronic diseases, pregnancy and maternal health outcomes, and the social determinants of health. Richard completed his PhD in Experimental Medicine in 2013, and is also a graduate of the University of Guelph Masters in Nutrition and Metabolism program and holds a BSc degree from the University of Alberta in Nutrition.