WRHR Mentors

Cindy Amundsen, MD, Roy T. Parker MD Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Expert in design and conduct of prospective observational and clinical trials of interventions for treatment of pelvic floor disorders; Program Director for Duke/ NCCU BIRCWH Program, and PI of the Duke KURe Program; highly experienced in mentoring junior faculty researchers. 

Matthew D. Barber, MD, MHS, W. Allen Addison, M.D. Distinguished Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Expert in design and conduct of clinical outcomes studies in treatment of pelvic floor disorders, including development and validation of specific outcome measures, multicenter clinical trials, device registries and the unique challenges of evaluating surgical interventions.

Keisha Bentley-Edwards, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine. Research examines how structural inequality, gender, and cultural context shape health and development across the lifespan, with a particular focus on African American families, children, and communities; expertise in health disparities.

Amy Corneli, PhD, Associate Professor of Population Health Sciences. Research interest in the use of qualitative and mixed-method studies with an emphasis on engaging patients/participants and other key stakeholders in qualitative research to inform clinical research, socio-behavioral interventions, and material and scale/questionnaire development; has developed a grant-funded research portfolio focused on prevention of HIV; brings unique experience as a women’s health researcher in a non-university setting, having come to Duke from a non-profit clinical research organization (FHI 360).

Liping Feng, MD, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Research focuses focused on understanding the mechanisms of pregnancy complications associated with placental development. This work is translated to the clinical care of women through studies dedicated to identify risk factors and novel biomarkers for early prediction and prevention of adverse birth outcomes. Expertise in molecular biology, placenta biology, reproductive science, and reproductive toxicology.

Laura Havrilesky, MD, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Uses health economic models to inform decisions related to gynecologic cancers. Expertise in clinical research and health economic modeling.

Megan Huchko, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Global Health, and Director of the Center for Global Reproductive Health. Research focuses on approaches to optimize cervical cancer screening and treatment for women in low-resource settings and with co-existing morbidities; expert in implementation science, cluster randomized trials and cohort design and analysis, with a special emphasis on vulnerable populations in both the United States and globally. 

Brenna Hughes, MD, MSc, Edwin Crowell Hamblen Distinguished Professor of Reproductive Biology and Family Planning, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Interim Department Chair, Ob/Gyn. Training includes dual fellowships in Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Reproductive Infectious Diseases and Immunology; research interest focuses on translational and clinical studies of infectious complications in pregnancy. Expertise in leading and participating in multicenter clinical trials in pregnancy.

Friederike Luking Jayes, PhD, DVM, Assistant Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Basic and translational research in uterine fibroids; expertise in career development of clinician-scientists (postdoc and faculty) to strengthen the biomedical workforce through mentoring, community building, research, and leadership.

Eric Jelovsek, MD, MMEd, MSDS, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Director of Data Science. Research interests focus on the development and evaluation of clinical prediction models using traditional biostatistics and machine learning approaches broadly in obstetrics and gynecology; in the context of pelvic floor disorders, these models have been applied to prevention of pelvic floor disorders after childbirth and pelvic organ prolapse surgery and reducing transfusion risk during gynecologic surgery; experience in the design and conduct of clinical trials in pelvic floor disorders.

Margeaux Marbrey, Assistant Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Research aims to understand molecular regulators of early and mid-pregnancy success using exposure paradigms and cutting-edge models to further understand human reproduction, promote healthy pregnancies, and improve patient care. Expertise in reproductive toxicology, preeclampsia, polycystic ovary syndrome, use of innovative models and exposure systems.

Donald McDonnell, PhD, Professor and Chair of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology. Multi-disciplinary researcher utilizing biochemical, genetic, and chemical biological approaches to define targetable regulatory steps in estrogen, androgen, progesterone, and estrogen-related receptor signaling pathways in reproductive cancers, breast cancer and diseases associated with dysregulated hormone signaling; developed mechanism-based screens that have resulted in the discovery of several drug/drug combinations.

Evan Myers, MD, MPH, Walter L. Thomas Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Research focuses on the application of quantitative methods, especially mathematical modeling and decision analysis, to problems in women's health. Experienced in systematic review/meta-analysis, use of mathematical modeling and decision analysis, cost effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis, and conduct of multi-center observational and randomized studies.

Shelby Reed, PhD, Professor in Population Health Sciences. Designs and conducts trial-based and model-based cost-effectiveness analyses of diagnostics, drugs and patient-centered interventions; leads multidisciplinary health outcomes research studies. Expertise: health economics, health measurement, stated preference research, health policy, and health services research.

Whitney Robinson, PhD, Associate Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Designs and conducts studies and interprets results from big datasets to investigate why rates of health and disease vary across groups, with a focus on endometriosis, fibroids, and PCOS. Expertise: epidemiology, health equity, EHR, large language models.

Danny Schust, MD, Edwin Crowell Hamblen Distinguished Professor of Reproductive Biology and Family Planning; Interim Division Chief, Reproductive Sciences. Research interests center around understanding human placental development, both normal and dysfunctional; the Schust laboratory uses 2D and 3D stem cell-derived models to study human implantation and placentation. Expertise: reproductive immunology, reproductive infectious diseases, reproductive exposures and disorders of abnormal placentation.

Angeles Alvarez Secord, MD, MHSc, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Director of Gynecologic Oncology Clinical Trials. Basic and translational scientist focused on understanding the tumor microenvironment in ovarian and endometrial cancers, the role of obesity in both the etiology and optimal management of gynecologic cancers, and innovative methods for the design and conduct of clinical trials in gynecologic cancer.

Nazema Siddiqui, MD, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Research interests in how microbial factors influence recurrent UTIs and overactive bladder. Expertise in urinary microbiome and conducting clinical trials to improve the lives of women with pelvic floor issues.

Geeta Swamy, MD, Haywood Brown, MD, Professor of Women’s Health, Vice-Chair of Research of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vice Dean for Scientific Integrity, Associate Vice President of Research. Experienced in clinical studies of perinatal infectious disease, especially vaccine-preventable diseases; PI for the Duke site of the NICHD Maternal-Fetal Medicine Unites Network; previous BIRCWH Scholar; her leadership roles in research administration at Duke are invaluable resources for individual Scholars and the Program as a whole. 

Anthony Visco, MD, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. PI of the Duke NICHD Pelvic Floor Disorders Network site; extensive experience in the design and conduct of multi-center clinical trials for the evaluation of medical and surgical management of pelvic floor disorders.

Sarahn Wheeler, MD, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Research focuses on race disparities in preterm birth and developing interventions to improve use of preterm birth prevention therapies. Expertise in health equity. 

Steven Young, MD, F. Bayard Carter Distinguished Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology.  Research in understanding interplay of hormonal action and inflammation in human endometrium relevant to implantation and pathogenesis and pathophysiology; translational evaluation of potential biomarkers for treatment of infertility and endometriosis; endometriosis treatment trials. Expertise in clinical trials.