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The National Women’s Health Network is pleased to announce the inaugural members of our new Policy Advisory Committee.
The Policy Advisory Committee will bring together accomplished researchers and clinicians who share a passion for advocating for women’s health. As committee members, these esteemed health professionals will have the opportunity to collaborate with other experts to help shape policy, advance research, and guide materials designed to benefit women’s health. Their policy development efforts will focus on three key areas: access to health care, biomedical research, and bodily autonomy. All committee members have generously agreed to volunteer their time and expertise for two years.
“Here at the Network, we believe that science, not profit or politics, should drive national health policy,” said Denise Hyater-Lindenmuth, NWHN Executive Director. “The Policy Advisory Committee will be an invaluable resource for us and for the country as we work to ensure that the country’s laws reflect the latest evidence and developments in women’s health.”
Read on to learn more about the panel members, whose expertise spans epidemiology, obstetrics, gynecology, cardiology, breast cancer, menopause, nursing and health administration:
Wendie A. Berg (MD, PhD, FACR, FSBI)
Wendie A. Berg is a distinguished professor of radiology at Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC, and Dr. Bernard F. Fisher is the chair of clinical breast cancer science at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He led and designed a number of scientific trials and protocols, including ACRIN 6666, Breast ultrasound and screening MRI, DBTUST (DBT or Screening Ultrasound Test). He also analyzed multicenter trials evaluating PEM versus MRI and shear wave elastography and co-edited three editions of the textbook Diagnostic Imaging: Breast. He is currently leading trials of contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM) screening versus tomosynthesis in women with a personal history of breast cancer and recently completed a CEM screening trial in women who meet the Pennsylvania criteria for MRI screening, with a focus on those with dense chest. Dr. Berg is a volunteer Chief Scientific Advisor at DenseBreast-info.org and a volunteer Associate Editor for the Rad-Path Correlation for the Journal of Breast Imaging.
Rebecca Dunsmoor-Su (MD, MSCE, MSCP)
Rebecca Dunsmoor-Su completed medical school, earned her Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology, and completed an OBGYN residency at the University of Pennsylvania. She moved to Seattle in 2005 to become an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Washington. In 2013, she moved to Swedish Medical Center’s First Hill campus and began building her menopause-focused practice. In 2019, she transitioned into gynecology and menopause care full-time, establishing the Women’s Wellness and Gynecology Clinic at Swedish Medical Center, where she was Medical Director of menopause services from 2019 to 2023. She joined Gennev.com in 2017. as Health Director to help make it the leading online clinic for midlife and menopausal women, and in 2019 became their Chief Medical Officer, transitioning full-time in 2023. She is also Medical Director at the Seattle Clinical Research Center, where serves as principal investigator on several studies. She served a term as editor for Obstetrics and Gynecology from 2016-2020. She is a Menopause Society Certified Menopause Professional and a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). Her practice and research focus is on holistic, evidence-based care for midlife and menopausal women.
Joyvina Evans (PhD, MSPH, MSA)
Joyvina Evans is Chair of the online Master of Health Administration program and Assistant Professor in the College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences at Howard University. He obtained a Ph.D. in Public Health, Master of Public Health, and Master of Administration. He completed the Center for Health Equity Research (CHER) Summer Intensive sponsored by California State University-Long Beach and is currently a CHER Fellow. Dr. Evans is a Leading Emerging and Diverse Scientist in Success (LEADS) in Translational Research funded by the University of Pittsburgh Clinical Research Institute and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Because of lived experiences and family history, she is passionate about health equity and women’s reproductive health. Her research focus areas are uterine fibroid treatment disparities, health literacy and implicit bias. Dr. Evans is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, the American Public Health Association and the Association of Collegiate Programs in Health Administration.
Jocelyn J. Fitzgerald (MD, FACOG, URPS)
Jocelyn J. Fitzgerald is Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the Department of Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She completed her fellowship in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery at Georgetown University/MedStar Health and her residency in Gynecology and Obstetrics at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He attended medical school at the University of Pittsburgh and graduated from the Physician Scientist Training Program where he studied overlapping mechanisms of bowel and bladder pain. Prior to medical school, Dr. Fitzgerald attended The Schreyer Honors College at Penn State University and earned dual degrees in Neurobiology and Women’s Studies with a certificate in Women’s Health. She is the Social Media Editor of the Urogynecology Journal and Chair of the SGS Social Media Committee. Her research and advocacy focus on the mechanisms and misdiagnosis of women’s chronic pelvic and bladder pain, discriminatory reimbursement and funding disparities in gynecologic surgery and women’s health research, and the role of social and digital media in the online promotion of women’s health.
Martha Gulati (MD, MS, FACC, FAHA, FASPC, FESC, FSCCT)
Martha Gulati is President of the American Society of Preventive Cardiology. She is a professor of cardiology at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles and is director of prevention as well as associate director of the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center and holds the Anita Dann Friedman Endowed Chair in Women’s Cardiovascular Medicine and Research. She was previously the inaugural Director of Cardiology at the University of Arizona. She is the best-selling author of Saving Women’s Hearts. He served as chair of the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology’s 2021 national chest pain guidelines.
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The National Women’s Health Network, a 501c3 nonprofit, represents women’s health interests across the lifespan with an intersectional focus on sexual and reproductive health, maternal health, and the health and well-being of older women. We work to improve women’s health outcomes through state and federal advocacy, consumer health education, and grassroots technical assistance initiatives. For more information about or programs, services and initiatives and how to donate, visit www.nwhn.org.
