Maternal & Reproductive Community Health Research Retreat

Joy Burkhard founded the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health, recognized as a ‘field catalyst’ by the Bridgespan Group. Her nonprofit has passed bipartisan legislation, and she also founded Mom Congress to elevate women’s influence in federal policy. She has 24 years of experience in a Fortune 50 health insurance company.

Connie Guille, MD, is a Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Medical University of South Carolina and founder of the Women’s Reproductive Behavioral Health Division. Her academic work focuses on integrated clinical care, training, and research to improve the identification and treatment of peripartum mental health and substance use disorders. Dr. Guille has published extensively in the areas of women’s mental health, stress, and depression.

Nicola Hawley, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, with a secondary appointment in Anthropology at Yale University, and serves as Associate Director for Dissemination and Implementation Science at the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation. Trained as a human biologist, her interdisciplinary research integrates epidemiology, anthropology, and global health to examine how early-life exposures influence maternal and child health, obesity, and chronic disease risk across the life course, with a focus on community-engaged and culturally responsive approaches. She leads NIH- and PCORI-funded research in Pacific Islander and global settings and is actively engaged in mentoring early-career scientists through multiple NIH career development awards.

Jennifer L. Payne, M.D., is Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia and Director of the Reproductive Psychiatry Research Program. Her research focuses on psychiatric disorders associated with hormonal transitions in women and has identified epigenetic biomarkers that predict risk for postpartum depression with approximately 80% accuracy, while also examining the biological mechanisms underlying reproductive mood disorders. Dr. Payne is a past President of the Marcé of North America and the International Marcé Perinatal Mental Health Societies, serves on the American Psychiatric Association’s Committee on Women’s Mental Health, and is Chief Medical Officer of Dionysus Health.

Courtney A. Schreiber, MD, MPH, is the Emily and Stuart Mudd Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Chief of the Division of Family Planning at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and founding Director of the Pregnancy Early Access Center (PEACE) at Penn Medicine. A physician-scientist focused on advancing women’s reproductive health—particularly for underserved populations—her work spans translational, clinical, and health services research, with more than 130 peer-reviewed publications arising from over 60 studies. Dr. Schreiber holds multiple institutional and national leadership roles, including Executive Director of FOCUS on Health and Leadership for Women at Penn, Senior Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, co-lead of Penn PROMOTES Research on Sex and Gender in Health, and inaugural Chair of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology’s Complex Family Planning Division.

Akila Subramaniam, MD, MPH, is a tenured Professor and Division Director of Maternal–Fetal Medicine, Director of the OBGYN Research and Diagnostic Laboratory, Vice Chair of Education, and the Bruce Harris Jr. Endowed Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dual board-certified in Maternal–Fetal Medicine and Medical Genetics, her clinical expertise includes fetal ultrasound, prenatal genetic diagnosis, and high-risk obstetrics. Her research focuses on outcomes-based studies and clinical trials of prenatal and obstetric interventions to reduce maternal and neonatal morbidity, with particular emphasis on puerperal infection, obstetric hemorrhage, thromboprophylaxis, and preterm birth pathways.