Speakers

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We are honored to have such a distinguished panel of speakers for the Stillbirth Summit 2019.  The unique nature of the Stillbirth Summit allows participants the opportunity to not only hear about the important work of these individuals, but an opportunity to interact with and get to know their sincere passion for the prevention of stillbirth and the support for families who must endure this terrible tragedy.

Catherine Calderwood, MA, CANTAB, MBCHB FRCOG, FRCP EDIN, FRCP GLASG, FRCS (ED), Honorary Colonel 205 (Scottish) Field Hospital

Catherine Calderwood has been the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland since 2015. She qualified from Cambridge and Glasgow Universities and continues to work as an obstetrician at a regular antenatal clinic at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. She is responsible for the Health Promoting Health Service initiative which aims to tackle health inequalities and improve health across the population of Scotland and is leading work to improve the health of those working in the public sector specifically NHS and civil service staff.

Mana Parast, MD, PHD

Dr. Parast is a perinatal pathologist and placental researcher at the University of California San Diego. Her clinical work is focused on placental examination in the setting of pregnancy complications and perinatal autopsies in setting of intrauterine or neonatal demise. In her research, she uses stem cell-based models for the study of human placental development and a combination of cellular and animal models to study the link between placental disease and fetal growth and development

Lisa Gill, MD, MS

Dr. Gill is Maternal Fetal Medicine physician and Assistant Professor in the University of Minnesota Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health. Dr. Gill attended Medical School at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. She recently finished her fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the University of Minnesota, Department of ObGyn & Women’s Health.

Alexander Heazell, MCBHB, PHD, MRCOG

Dr. Heazell is Professor of Obstetrics and Director of the Tommy’s Stillbirth Research Centre, University of Manchester, UK and Honorary Consultant Obstetrician at St. Mary’s Hospital, Manchester. Since completing his PhD in 2008 on the role of placental dysfunction in preeclampsia, his research has focused on stillbirth and fetal growth restriction; his research portfolio includes a profile of basic science, clinical and qualitative research studies to give a better understanding leading to prevention of stillbirth and improving care for parents after stillbirth. He has received over £3.7 of grant income and has published over 150 research papers and received national and international awards for his work on stillbirth and placental dysfunction, and for improving care for parents whose babies die before or shortly after birth. He led the Stillbirth Priority Setting Partnership and was one of the team for the 2016 Lancet Series: Ending Preventable Stillbirth. He was the lead investigator for the national evaluation of the Saving Babies Lives programme funded by NHS England.

Barbara Toppin, MD

Dr. Toppin is a board-certified OB/GYN with many years of experience in women’s health care. She graduated from Wellesley College. She received her medical degree from the university of Cincinnati in 1982 and then completed her residency at Harlem Hospital, serving as Executive Chief Resident in her fourth year. Her professional experience includes serving as clinical instructor at Columbia University College of Medicine, medical directorship of the Ossining Open Door Clinic in upstate New York and private practice in White Plains, New York. Dr. Toppin was selected as a Top Obstetrician/Gynecologist in Woodbury, MN by the International Association of Obstetrics & Gynecologists published in “The Leading Physicians of the World”. She is the author of One in Four: Shifting the Balance on Pregnancy Loss.

Debra Heller, MD

Dr. Heller received her medical training at New York Medical College and completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York where she served as Chief Resident. Her education continued at Mount Ainai School of Medicine where she completed both a residency in Anatomic Pathology, and fellowships in Pediatric Pathology and Gynecological Pathology. She is a diplomate in Pediatric Pathology, Anatomic Pathology, and Obstetrics & Gynecology. Dr. Heller is Professor with tenure of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, with joint appointments in the Department of Pediatrics, as well as the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Women’s Health at Rutgers-NJ Medical School. Dr. Heller is the author of over 250 published articles and numerous books and book chapters on issues relating to poor pregnancy outcomes relating to placental disease, and gynecologic oncology. She is active in the Society for Pediatric Pathology, where she chairs the Perinatal Committee.

Harvey Kliman, MD, PHD

Dr . Kliman has, in addition to an MD, a PhD in cellular biochemistry from the University of Chicago. He is currently a Research Scientist in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Yale University School of Medicine and the Director of the Reproductive and Placental Research Unit with a special interest in infertility and pregnancy complications. He has over thirty-five years of anatomic pathology training with particular emphasis in electron microscopy, immunohistochemistry, endometrial and placental pathology. He has over ten patents, including the patient for the Endometrial Function Test (EFT) – “The soil test for the endometrium” and “Method and system for determining placental volume.” His contributions in the field of placental research include the development of the “Kliman” method of trophoblast purification, research into the mechanisms of trophoblast differentiation and invasion, the role and genesis of syncytial knots, the discovery of fetal fibronectin in the placenta, and more recently, the clinical utility of abnormalities in placental villous growth patterns, especially trophoblast invaginations and inclusions, to diagnose genetic abnormalities in pregnancy, including autism.

Lindsey Henke, MSW, LICSW

Lindsey is a clinical social worker practicing as a psychotherapist specializing in maternal mental health with a focus on perinatal grief and trauma and the pregnancy that follows a loss. She received her undergraduate degree and Masters in Social Work from the University of Minnesota. She is the Executive Director of Pregnancy After Loss Support (PALS) which she founded in 2014 after the birth of her baby born after the stillbirth of her first child in 2012. She is interested in advocating for grieving parents and those pregnant again after the death of their child.

Deena Mallareddy, CNM, MSN

Deena is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Masters Entry Program in Nursing and Nurse-Midwifery/WHNP programs in the School of Nursing at the University of California San Francisco. She graduated from the Yale School of Nursing and has practiced for 20 years in various settings, including academic tertiary care centers, community hospitals, home birth, and a freestanding birth center on the Texas-Mexico boarder. She currently practices at San Francisco at Zuckerberg San Francisco Hospital with the Nurse-Midwives of San Francisco, the oldest independent midwifery service in the bay area.

William J. Maples, MD

William Maples, MD leads The Institute for Healthcare Excellence (IHE), where he and the faculty work with healthcare organizations to nurture relational skills necessary to create a culture which embraces trust, respect, compassion, and teamwork. This in turn creates an environment where quality, safety, and efficiency efforts flourish. In addition to creating an exceptional experience for patients and families through relational skills, the experience culture for the caregiver team is enriched. Through this work physicians, nurses and caregiver teams reconnect to their deep sense of purpose and restore joy to the practice of medicine. The end result of the culture transforming work is a restoration of humanity to medicine. Dr. Maples’ passion for enriching the experience culture for Medicine in a sustainable and financially feasible way is unrivaled.

Louise Stephens, RN, RM

Louise is the Lead Midwife at St. Mary’s Rainbow Clinic, Manchester, United Kingdom. Louise is actively involved in research and developing care locally, within the region and nationally through her involvement with Baby Lifeline; delivering training to midwives and obstetricians on fetal growth restriction, stillbirth and care in the next pregnancy. Louise works closely with Tommy’s providing midwifery advice and guidance on stillbirth and care in a subsequent pregnancy. Louise is involved in International Collaboration with countries involved in similar care pathways.

Jane Warland, RN, RM, PHD

Dr. Warland is an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing and MIdwifery at the University of South Australia (UniSA). She worked as a midwife from 1988-2007. Dr. Warland gained her PhD from the University of Adelaide in 2007 and has been an academic staff member in the School of Nursing and Midwifery since early 2008. She teaches undergraduate midwifery students complications in pregnancy and childbirth including prevention and management of stillbirth. Dr. Warland’s program of research includes identifying and exploring novel and emerging risk factors for stillbirth. Most recently this includes work with international collaborators in the area of supine sleep, the significance of maternal perception of altered fetal movements and understanding maternal intuition.

Lindsey J. Wimmer, RN, MSN, PHN, CPNP, CPLC

Lindsey Wimmer

Lindsey Wimmer is the Stillbirth Summit Conference Director and the Founder and Executive Director of Star Legacy Foundation. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from St. Catherine University in St. Paul, MN and a Master of Science degree in pediatric nursing from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. She is a pediatric nurse practitioner and recently taught pediatrics, public health, obstetrics, and leadership in the nursing department at St. Catherine University. Her clinical experience includes over 11 years in a primary care setting and years in an emergency care setting. Lindsey is certified in Perinatal Loss Care (CPLC) and lectures throughout the United States on opportunities to improve stillbirth prevention and care.

Tosin Popoola, RN, RM, BNS, MNS

Tosin Popoola is a registered nurse midwife who recently completed his PhD. Dr. Popoola is interested in bereavement studies, especially the contribution of social bonds to grief experience in low-resource areas.

James McGregor, MD

Dr. McGregor is a graduate of Dartmouth College and McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine and has served as Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology practicing at UCLA, USC and the University of Colorado Hospital. Dr. McGregor practiced as a fully engaged obstetrician and gynecologist for forty years at Cedars-Sinai, Los Angeles County, Tuscon Medical Center and the University of Colorado Hospitals until his retirement in 2010. Now he shares his expertise with Group B Strep International through giving presentations and talking to providers and parents at perinatal conference exhibits around the world.

Margaret Murphy, DN, MSC, BSC, RM, RGN, IBCLC

Dr. Murphy has a Doctor in Nursing from University College Cork. She is on the Executive Board and Scientific Advisory Committee of International Stillbirth Alliance. She is a faculty member at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University College Cor, Ireland where she lectures on undergraduate and postgraduate midwifery programs. She is a Registered Midwife and a Registered General Nurse specializing in Intensive Care Nursing. She has over 20 years clinical experience.

James Nicholson, MD, MSCE

Dr. Niccholson graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1984 and completed his residency in Family Medicine with the Duke-Watts Program in North Carolina in 1987. He was in private practice in Northeastern Connecticut until 1997, at which time he returned to the University of Pennsylvania to teach maternity care/obstetrics within that institution’s newly formed Family Medicine Residency Program At the University of Pennsylvania, he developed a research agenda that focused on the regular use of risk-based labor induction to lower cesarean delivery rates and published several major research papers. In 2012 Dr. Nicholson moved to the Penn State Hershey Family Medicine Residency Program and while there he spearheaded a study that identified an association in the USA between decreasing early term labor induction activity and increasing term stillbirth rates. This past December, Dr. Nicholson joined the Wellspan Medical Group in Central Pennsylvania. He continues to pursue research focusing on the impact of variable rates of labor induction on term pregnancy outcomes.

Stephanie Inks, JD

Professor Inks is a research and clinical fellow at Georgetown University Law Center. Previously, she practiced law for six years as a litigator at Simpson, Thacher, and Bartlett in both New York and Washington, DC. On a pro-bono basis, she represented two indigent children from Ecuador, winning then a grant of asylum. Before beginning her practice, Professor Inks taught Constitutional Law to undergraduate students at Louisiana State University.

Danielle Pollock

Danielle is a passionate advocate of women’s health and stillbirth awareness. Danielle’s life changed direction dramatically when her daughter, Sofia was stillborn in 2014. Since then, she has been conducting research on stillbirth awareness, prevention, and stigma through her PhD at the University of South Australia. Danielle has an honors degree in Psychology and a graduate certificate in loss, grief and trauma counseling. She is currently completing her PhD, whilst teaching undergraduate students and being a mum to Charlie and Zoe. Danielle hopes that her research will change how we discuss stillbirth and let bereaved parents be able to say their baby’s name loudly and confidently.

Louise O’Brien, PhD

Dr. O’Brien is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology Sleep Disorders Center, a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and an Associate Research Scientist in the Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery. Dr. O’Brien earned a bachelor’s degree with honors in physiology from the University of Leeds, United Kingdom in 1992. In 1998 she gained a PhD in physiology from Keele University, United Kingdom. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in pediatric sleep research at the University of Louisville, KY. Dr. O’Brien’s primary research interests include the impact of sleep disruption and its treatment in pregnancy and the association with adverse perinatal outcomes. She was responsible for developing collaborations between the Sleep Disorders Center and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and has held several NIH grants in support of this work. She has published over 60 original manuscripts and over a dozen invited reviews and book chapters. In addition, she participates in NIH study sections; is an Associate Editor for the journal SLEEP, and is a reviewer for over 45 medical journals, including the American Journal of Perinatology, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, and Obstetrics and Gynecology. She is a founding member of the STARS Research Collaborative and the Principal Investigator for the soon to launch Pregnancy Research Project.

Dexter Hayes

Dexter is a Research Assistant at the Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre, University of Manchester, UK. Since completing his Master’s degree in Biological Science by Research in a variety of systematic reviews and meta-analyses in maternity care. Recent work has included investigating the prevalence and effects of reduced fetal movements in lower middle income countries and a Cochrane DTA review on the accuracy of ultrasound and placental biomarkers for predicting small for gestational age (SGA) and stillbirth.

Joann O’Leary, PHD

Dr. O’Leary has a PhD, MPH, MS, IMH-E (IV). Her background is in preschool special education, 18 years as a Parent-Infant Specialist in a high-risk perinatal center and was a Fulbright Specialist at University College Cork, Ireland in 2016. Her research focus is how perinatal loss and the pregnancy that follows impacts families. She has authored several books on this important topic.

Suzanne Pullen, PHD

Dr. Pullen has a PhD in Communication Studies and a Social Work certificate in Trauma and Bereavement from Arizona State University. She holds Masters and Bachelors degrees in Communication Studies from San Francisco State University, is a lecturer at San Francisco State University and the University of San Francisco and works at Stanford University’s Standardized Patient program. Her research has focused on understanding the experiences of families experiencing stillbirth with the goal of improving health provider-patient communication, after-death care practices for stillbirth families, and social support for families whose babies have died. Dr. Pullen is a stillbirth advocate, former reporter, and loving parent of her stillborn son, Avery. She has presented keynote speeches, workshops and training sessions at national and international conferences and local hospitals.

Ivy Margulies, PSYD

Dr. Margulies is a licensed clinical psychologist, death midwife (Bereavement Doula), Reiki healer and licensed funeral director who specializes in grief, loss, and trauma encompassing the entire spectrum of a woman’s reproductive and maternal mental health from postpartum mood and anxiety disorders, birth trauma, NICU, preterm labor, miscarriage, infertility, pregnancy release, terminations for fetal anomaly, stillbirth, infant death, high risk pregnancy, and pregnancy after loss. Dr. Margulies has a unique way of blending psychotherapy, trauma informed therapy, somatic therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness techniques, ritual, reiki energy healing, and guided meditations to help facilitate and support women, couples and families through the grieving process.

Deb Rich, PHD, LP, CPLC

Deb Rich, PhD, LP, CPLC is the Founder and Director of Shoshana Center for Reproductive Health Psychology, PLLC in St. Paul, MN Deb has provided psychotherapy, training and consultation for over 30 years. Shoshana Center honors the memory of her daughter Shoshana, who was stillborn in August of 1985. Shoshana Center has gained local, national and international recognition, and is the only licensee of Dr. Rich’s training curricula, Momma CareTM. Deb holds leadership positions with the North American Society for Psychosocial OB/GYN, Pregnancy Loss and Infant Death Alliance, Minnesota Women in Psychology and the national faculty of Resolve Through Sharing.

Annette Klein, RN

Annette is a registered nurse who is ICEA certified and has completed RTS Advanced Coordinator training. She is mother to three living children and has experienced a loss at 10 weeks and a daughter born still at 38 weeks gestation. These experiences and those of families she has worked with have changed her and the path of her obstetric career that followed.

Claire Foord

Stillbirth is a devastation that no family should endure but sadly, it is a turmoil that will live with Claire forever. In 2014, she and her husband welcomed a baby girl and on the same day, they had to say goodbye – Alfie was stillborn at term – a perfect baby, with no illness or issue, but without breath. This devastating tragedy saw Claire campaign and establish Still Aware. A passionate advocate, Claire hopes to bring about change and a high level of awareness that stillbirth deserves. Claire’s efforts have been recognized when she was awarded South Australia’s Local Hero aware, in the 2016 Australian of the Year Awards. As an awarded South Australian visual artist, Claire’s work is exhibited and collected locally and internationally, including galleries and institutions in the US, Canada and Germany. Prior to this, Claire completed a Bachelor in Visual Arts and a Diploma in Education.

Jill Lens, JD

Professor Jill Wieber Lens is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Arkansas. Her expertise is in tort and remedies law, and her research focus is on legal recognition and treatment of stillbirth. She is also the mother to a stillborn child, her son, Caleb Marcus Lens.

Jennifer Krippner

Jennifer is a leading expert on patient experience and relationship centered care. Jennifer has more than 20 years of expertise in strategic planning, patient experience, physician development and employee/community engagement. She is passionate about building connections and relationships. Jennifer is a fierce advocate for connecting things, concepts and people, seen and unseen, that positively move the patient experience forward. Jennifer stands apart for her personal commitment to helping hospitals and health systems build a culture of excellence that leads to the delivery of exceptional patient-centered care. While Jennifer takes great pride in her work, her true north remains her family, friends and relationships she develops. A graduate of the College of St. Benedict, she holds a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies/Communications.

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