Compassionate Conversations: STI Screening in Pregnancy

Dr. Gillispie-Bell is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist and associate professor for Ochsner Health Center – Kenner in New Orleans, Louisiana. She serves as the senior site lead and section head of women’s services at Ochsner Health Center – Kenner. Additionally, she serves as the director of quality for women’s services for the Ochsner health system and is the medical director of the Ochsner Center for the Minimally Invasive Treatment of Uterine Fibroids. She earned her medical degree from Meharry Medical College and completed her residency training at Ochsner health system. She has a master’s of applied science in patient safety and health care quality from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She has received certification in diversity and inclusion from Cornell University. Clinically, in addition to providing obstetric care, Dr. Gillispie-Bell performs advanced laparoscopic and robotic-assisted laparoscopic procedures and is known nationally for her expertise in management of heavy menstrual bleeding associated with fibroids. Dr. Gillispie-Bell is also the medical director of the Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative and Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review for the Louisiana Department of Health. In this role, she leads initiatives in the state of Louisiana to improve birth outcomes for all birthing persons in Louisiana and eliminate the disparities between outcomes in Black people and white people.

Genevieve Hofmann (she/her) received her master’s of science in nursing from Vanderbilt University and has been a practicing women’s health nurse practitioner since 2001. She received her doctor of nursing practice degree from the University of Colorado in 2019. Hofmann has worked in many practice settings during her career including in private practice, family planning clinics, and the University of Colorado School of Medicine. As an assistant professor in the division of academic specialists in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Genevieve has a busy generalist obstetrics and gynecology clinical practice seeing patients across their lifespan. She has a particular interest in improving prenatal and postpartum care and works with a multidisciplinary team providing specialty care to PCOS patients. She is also a North American Menopause Society-certified menopausal clinician and has a keen interest in improving care for people during the menopause transition. In 2023, she joined the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health’s board of directors. In addition to her patient care responsibilities, she leads nurse practitioner and medical students, provides didactic education to nursing and medical students, and participates in quality improvement work. She is a published researcher and is grateful for the many opportunities she has been given to contribute to National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health through committee work, providing educational content, and as an author and peer reviewer for Women’s Healthcare: A Clinical Journal for NPs.

Alison Poole White (she/her) serves as program director for SisterLove, Inc, a women-centered HIV and secual and reproductive justice advocacy organization based out of Atlanta, Georgia. Her responsibilities include management over three programmatic areas: health education and prevention, the Community-Based Research Program, and policy and advocacy and also provides leadership for SisterLove’s programs in South Africa. She is a licensed master’s level social worker in the state of Georgia. White received her master’s in social work from the University of Pennsylvania and her bachelor’s degree in political science and African American studies from the University at Buffalo. She has provided leadership and management for housing nonprofit organizations for over 20 years, including serving as director of the largest Supportive Services for Veteran Families program in northeast Georgia for seven years. Her greatest accomplishment was working with her team to quickly mobilize to keep more than 250 homeless veterans lodged during the early months of the COVID pandemic, 50% of whom transitioned into permanent housing. In 2021, she was honored by the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans with an Unsung Hero Award. She has conducted policy and advocacy work on the issues of LGBTQIA+ equality, sex worker advocacy, persons with developmental disabilities, and ending homelessness. She was a founding board member of L’Arche Atlanta. She holds an active membership with the National Association of Social Workers.

Fred Wyand (he/him) has been a sexual health educator for over 20 years and currently serves as the director of communications for the American Sexual Health Association (ASHA). A former supervisor of the national Herpes and HPV contact centers, he currently oversees ASHA’s HPV and Cervical Cancer Prevention Resource Center and edits publications and online content for HPV and related diseases. In his role as ASHA’s media liaison, Mr. Wyand develops policy and position statements for the organization, coordinates all press inquiries, and gives expert interviews to journalists seeking background for articles. He has also worked with the CDC in developing updated treatment and counseling guidelines for HPV-associated diseases and served as a contributor to the STI section for the revised version of Our Bodies, Ourselves.