Speakers

At this year's Annual Meeting in Boston, top women's health care experts from Boston's rich academic health care community and nation wide will present on more than 100 topics covering the latest in women's health care research and innovation.

Eugene Declercq, an active supporter of midwifery from the Boston University School of Public Health, is the keynote speaker for Saturday's opening celebration. Additionally, four premier sessions pull from the expertise of the Boston area and cover topics of importance to midwives and women's health professionals.

Keynote Speaker:

Eugene Declercq, PhD
Eugene Declercq is the assistant dean of doctoral education and a professor of maternal & child health at the Boston University School of Public Health. He combines formal training in political science with almost twenty yearsof experience as a certified childbirth educator to examine policy and practice around childbirth in the U.S. and abroad. The most recent example is his current research examining cesarean section in the U.S. as part of his work as a Robert Wood Johnson-funded health policy investigator. He has served as lead author of two national studies of women's experiences in childbirth entitled Listening to Mothers. Dr. Declercq is a regularly published author in the Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health.

Premier Speakers:

Judy Norsigian
Judy Norsigian will address the Boston Women's Health Book Collective (BWHBC) and The Women's Health Movement: Then and Now. Norsigian is the co-founder of the BWHBC and co-author of all editions of Our Bodies, Ourselves. Norsigian is an active women’s health supporter and serves as a member of several editorial boards including the Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health. Her interests include national health care reform, tobacco and women, midwifery advocacy, reproductive health, genetic technologies, and contraceptive research.

Aubrey Milunsky, MBBCh, DSc, FRCP, FACMG
Aubrey Milunsky is the director of the Center for Human Genetics and a professor of pediatrics, obstetrics, gynecology, biology, pathology, and human genetics. Aubrey Milunsky is board certified in Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Clinical Genetics. After thirteen years as a medical geneticist at the Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital, he was appointed Professor of Pediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynecology at BU School of Medicine and Founding Director of their Center for Human Genetics in 1981, Professor of Pathology in 1985, and Professor of Human Genetics in 1991. He is the author and/or editor of twenty-two books. His last book for the lay public - Your Genetic Destiny: Know Your Genes, Secure Your Health, Save Your Life was published in 2001 and has been translated into 6 languages. In 1991, he became the incumbent of the first endowed Chair in Human Genetics at Boston University School of Medicine. At the Annual Meeting, Dr. Milunsky will discuss Learning Genetics: Lessons from the Law.

Byllye Avery, BA, MEd
A dreamer, visionary, and grassroots realist, Byllye Avery combines activism and social responsibility by developing a national forum for the exploration of health issues of African-American women. By gathering and documenting African-American women's health experiences she is providing a supportive atmosphere for African-American women. Prior to her entry into the health care arena, Avery taught special education to emotionally disturbed students and consulted on learning disabilities in public schools and universities throughout the southeastern U.S.. Avery is the founder of the Black Women's Health Imperative and the Avery Institute for Social Change. She will address health care reform and access to health care as a human right.

ACNM Healthcare Reform Task Force
The ACNM Presidential Task Force on Health Care Reform will take this opportunity to bring you an update on their work,l including online handouts for midwives to use in lobbying presidential, state and local candidates and links to other supportive organizations involved in health care reform. Background materials for midwives will expand their knowledge base and provide support for this important work. The speaker will address midwifery care opportunities in health care reform.

KEYNOTE AND PREMIER SPEAKER'S SCHEDULE:

May 24, 2008
1 pm - 2 pm
Health Care Reform: A Wish, A Dream or A Reality? -- Byllye Avery, BA, MEd

2:15 pm - 3:15 pm
Learning Genetics:  Lessons from the Law -- Aubrey Milunsky, MD, DSc

7:30 pm - 8 pm
Keynote Address -- Gene Declercq, PhD

May 25, 2008
8:15 am - 9:15 am
ACNM Healthcare Reform Task Force -- Speaker TBA

May 27, 2008
10 am - 11 am
Boston Women's Health Book Collective and the Women's Health Movement: Then and Now -- Judy Norsigian