Speakers
Geolani Dy, MD
Thursday, August 1, 2024 (09:00 a.m.) – Gender-Affirming Care and Its Impacts on the Sexual and Reproductive Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People Assigned Female Sex at Birth
Geolani Dy, MD (she/her) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Urology and Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), and Affiliate Associate Professor in the Department of Urology at the University of Washington. Dr. Dy specializes in the surgical care of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals as core faculty in the OHSU Transgender Health Program, and is passionate about improving surgical outcomes by centering TGD community voices in research. Dr. Dy created TRANS-ARC (Transgender and Non-Binary Surgery Allied Research Collective, www.trans-arc.org), a collaborative for patient-centered research, and the multi-center TRANS (Transgender and Non-Binary Surgery) Registry, tracking longitudinal outcomes of GGAS. She is Principal Investigator of the Support for Transgender and Nonbinary Individuals Seeking Vaginoplasty (STRIVE) Study, the first national randomized trial to focus on improving well-being, access to surgical care and other health outcomes for TGD people seeking GGAS. She has published extensively on GGAS techniques and patient-centered outcomes research in GGAS.
Olivia Van Gerwen, MD, MPH
Thursday, August 1, 2024 (09:00 a.m.) – Gender-Affirming Care and Its Impacts on the Sexual and Reproductive Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People Assigned Female Sex at Birth
Dr. Olivia Van Gerwen completed her internal medicine residency and chief residency at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA. She returned to her hometown of Birmingham, AL to pursue a fellowship in Infectious Diseases at UAB, which she completed in 2020 in addition to a post-doctoral fellowship in health services, outcomes, and effectiveness research. She is now an Assistant Professor in the UAB Division of Infectious Diseases. Olivia’s research focuses on HIV and STI prevention as well as comprehensive sexual health promotion among LGBTQ+ populations. Clinically, she enjoys providing sexual healthcare services to patients at the UAB Gender Health clinic, patients living with HIV at the UAB 1917 Clinic and is the Assistant Medical Director at the UAB Vaginitis Clinic.
Jeanne Marrazzo, MD, MPH, FACP, FIDSA
Friday, August 2, 2024 (08:30 a.m.) – NIAID Perspective on Reproductive Tract Infections in Women
Dr. Marrazzo is the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), where she oversees a $6.3 billion budget that supports research to advance understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases. She was previously the C. Glenn Cobbs Endowed Chair and Director of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Heersink School of Medicine. She is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), and was Treasurer of the IDSA from 2021-2023, having served on the board since 2018.
Dr. Marrazzo researches the vaginal microbiome, sexually transmitted infections, and HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis. She has had leadership roles in the NIH HIV Prevention Trials Network and the Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Consortium. She has been a leading voice in communicating science during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Haben Debessai, MD
Friday, August 2, 2024 (02:30 p.m.) – Understanding the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Vaccine and Prevention Options
Dr. Debessai was born and raised in Michigan. She received her undergraduate degree in Biopsychology at the University of Michigan and spent a gap year in the city of Chicago volunteering with AmeriCorp before attending Michigan State University for medical school. She moved to Atlanta in 2019 for her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Emory University which was completed in July 2023. She is currently pursuing the Gilstrap Fellow at the CDC Foundation and additionally serves as an Emory Adjunct Instructor at Grady Health System. Her passions are in community involvement, academic mentorship in medicine, healthcare in underserved populations, as well as women’s health policy work.
Caroline Cameron, MD
Saturday, August 3, 2024 (08:30 a.m.) – Syphilis Challenges and Opportunities: Prevention, Testing, and Treatment
Dr. Caroline Cameron is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology at the University of Victoria, an Affiliate Professor in the Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the University of Washington, President of the Canadian branch of the International Union against Sexually Transmitted Infections, and President of the International Society for Sexually Transmitted Diseases Research Foundation. Her research focus is diagnostic and vaccine development for infectious/congenital syphilis. Dr. Cameron is internationally funded by NIH, CIHR, NSERC, and Open Philanthropy and is the recipient of multiple awards, including a MERIT Award (NIH), a Canada Research Chair (CIHR), a Michael Smith Foundation Scholar Award, and a Life Sciences Award for Scientific Excellence.
Kate Miele, MD, MA, FACOG
Saturday, August 3, 2024 (08:30 a.m.) – Syphilis Challenges and Opportunities: Prevention, Testing, and Treatment
Dr. Kate Miele is a Medical Officer with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of STD Prevention and Adjunct Faculty with the Emory University’s Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics. She completed her Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency at the University of North Carolina after earning a Doctor of Medicine from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate from New York University, a Masters of Arts from The New School in International Affairs, and a Bachelor of Arts from the College of William and Mary with High Honors in East Asian Studies. She has seven years of professional nonprofit experience, including working in international reproductive health with EngenderHealth, global diplomacy with One To World, environmental advocacy with Green Corps, and grassroots community organizing in Kenya and India with GROOTS International.