Introducing the National Women’s Health Network Policy Advisory Committee

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Director of Communications Adele Scheiber at [email protected] or by phone at 631 – 538 – 6348 for comments and questions.

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 women’s health advocacy. As committee members, these esteemed health professionals will have the chance to work collaboratively with other experts to help shape policy, promote research, and guide materials designed to benefit women’s health. Their policy development efforts will concentrate 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 rather than profit or politics should guide national health policy,” said Denise Hyater-Lindenmuth, Executive Director of the NWHN. “The Policy Advisory Committee will be an invaluable resource to us and to the country as we work to make sure that the laws of the land reflect the latest evidence and advancements in women’s health.”  

Read on to learn more about the committee 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 breast cancer clinical science at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.  She led and designed a number of scientific trials and protocols, including ACRIN 6666, Screening Breast Ultrasound and MRI, DBTUST (DBT or Ultrasound Screening Trial). She also analyzed multicenter trials evaluating PEM vs. MRI and shear-wave elastography and co-edited three editions of the textbook Diagnostic Imaging: Breast. She is currently leading trials of screening contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM) vs. tomosynthesis in women with a personal history of breast cancer and recently completed a trial of screening CEM in women who meet Pennsylvania criteria for MRI screening, with an emphasis on those with dense breasts. Dr. Berg is a voluntary Chief Scientific Advisor to DenseBreast-info.org and a voluntary Associate Editor for 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 take up the position of Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Washington. In 2013, she moved to the Swedish Medical Center, First Hill campus, and started to build her menopause-focused practice. In 2019, she transitioned to gynecology and menopause care full-time, founding the Women’s Wellness and GYN Specialties Clinic at Swedish Medical Center, where she was Medical Director of Menopause services from 2019 to 2023. She joined Gennev.com in 2017 as Director of Health to help build it into the premier online clinic for women in midlife and menopause, and in 2019 became their Chief Medical Officer, transitioning to full-time in 2023. She is also a Medical Director at Seattle Clinical Research Center where she serves as primary investigator on many studies. She served a term as an editor for Obstetrics and Gynecology from 2016-2020. She is a Menopause Society certified menopause practitioner and a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). Her focus in practice and research is on holistic, evidence-based care for women in midlife and menopause.

Joyvina Evans (PhD, MSPH, MSA)

Joyvina Evans is Chair of the online Master of Health Administration program and an Assistant Professor in the College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences at Howard University. She earned a Ph.D. in Public Health, a Master of Public Health, and a Master of Administration. She completed the Center for Health Equity Research (CHER) Summer Intensive sponsored by California State University-Long Beach and is currently a CHER Scholar. Dr. Evans is a leading emerging and diverse scientist to success (LEADS) fellow in translational research sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Clinical Research Education and Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Due to 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 University Programs in Healthcare Administration.

Jocelyn J. Fitzgerald (MD, FACOG, URPS)

Jocelyn J. Fitzgerald is an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the division of Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She completed her Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship at Georgetown University/MedStar Health and her Gynecology and Obstetrics residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. She attended medical school at the University of Pittsburgh and graduated from the Physician Scientist Training Program where she studied overlapping mechanisms of bowel and bladder pain.  Before 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 the Chair of the SGS Social Media committee. Her research and advocacy is focused on mechanisms and misdiagnosis of female 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 the President of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology. She is a professor of cardiology at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles and is the director of prevention as well as the 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 formerly the inaugural Chief of Cardiology at the University of Arizona. She is the author of the best-seller, “Saving Women’s Hearts.” She served as the chair of the national chest pain guidelines from the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology that were released in 2021.

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The National Women’s Health Network, a 501c3 not for profit, represents the health interests of women across the life continuum with an intersectional focus on sexual and reproductive health, maternal health, and the health and well-being of aging 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.