Dr. Rachel Caskey is a board-certified internist and pediatrician and has expertise caring for patients of all ages, with a focused clinical interest in women’s health. She is a health services researcher with experience in clinical trial design and implementation, as well as public health program implementation and analysis. Dr. Caskey has successfully conducted multiple clinical trials, and designed clinical programs, targeting postpartum women. She combined her clinical interest in women’s reproductive health with her public health interest in population health to develop a research platform focused on reproductive health care delivery through scalable system-level interventions. She has studied mechanisms to positively impact receipt of care and family planning behaviors among postpartum women through large health system change, including large randomized trials offering women contraception in conjunction with their infant’s pediatric visit. Dr. Caskey has experience overseeing large implementation projects. She was the Director of Data and Outcomes for the UIC Coordinated Healthcare for Complex Kids (CHECK) program. CHECK was an innovative care coordination and health care delivery program for nearly 6000 families of low-income high-risk youth and young adults. CHECK enrolled more than 17,000 children and young adults, more than 90% were racial/ethnic minorities. She serves on multiple committees at the Chicago Department of Public Health focused on city-wide women’s and children’s health initiatives and serves as an advisor at the Illinois Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics on health promotion efforts.

Dr. Stacie Geller has been a local, national, and international leader in addressing maternal health for over 25 years. She has extensive experience working in maternal health focused on factors associated with maternal morbidity and mortality. She was the Principal Investigator of a CDC/Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPH) cooperative agreement “Investigation of factors associated with maternal mortality” where she developed an innovative model for early identification of high-risk pregnant women. Using this model, Dr. Geller has done extensive work in IL to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality. Her work has been adopted by the CDC and ACOG and recommended as a best practice for in-depth hospital review across the U.S. Dr. Geller has worked with IDPH to develop the MM and SMM review processes and committees. She is a founding member of both of the state’s MMRCs and co-chairs the SMM review committee. Dr. Geller is involved in a number of policy and program initiatives to improve maternal health care. Currently, Dr. Geller is the Co-PI of a PCORI grant to address the disparities in prenatal and postpartum care for Black women in Chicago. Dr. Geller’s work in maternal health extends to global circles as well.

Dr. Arden Handler has over 30 years of experience implementing a variety of research and evaluation projects to improve women’s health and reduce racial/ethnic disparities across the reproductive and perinatal continuum. She has conducted a number of studies on women’s and pregnant person’s access, satisfaction, and utilization of preconception, prenatal, postpartum, and well-woman care. She has worked over the last seven years on a variety of research and evaluation projects related to postpartum care including testing the feasibility of addressing women’s health issues at the Well-Baby Visit. She is the lead evaluator for the Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program and PI of the evaluation of Family Connects Chicago. She is a former member of the US Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Infant Mortality (SACIM) and is actively involved in multiple other MCH public health practice projects both locally and nationally focused on maternal and infant care. Through her role as Director of the UIC Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health at UIC School of Public Health, she has a long-standing relationship with the IL Title V/MCH Program as well as state and local MCH programs across the US.

Dr. Anne Elizabeth (Liz) Glassgow is a Research Associate Professor in the Division of Academic Internal Medicine and Department of Pediatrics in the College of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Dr. Glassgow serves as the Executive Director of Innovations to ImPROve Maternal OuTcomEs in Illinois (I PROMOTE-IL), a Maternal Health Innovation grant funded by the Health Resources & Services Administration. I PROMOTE-IL is a multi-faceted initiative to improve maternal health and reduce maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity in Illinois. Dr. Glassgow is responsible for the operational leadership, oversight, and management of I PROMOTE-IL. Dr. Glassgow also is the Medical Director of the UI Health Two-Generation Clinic, an innovative and comprehensive primary care clinic model for postpartum women and their infants. Prior to her current position, Dr. Glassgow was the Executive Director of Coordinated Healthcare for Complex Kids (CHECK) in the Department of Pediatrics. CHECK was the largest national pediatric payment and comprehensive delivery system model funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Innovation Center. Dr. Glassgow also was the Project Director of the National Institutes of Health, P60 Center or Excellence in Eliminating Health Cancer Disparities at the Institute for Health Research and Policy at UIC. Dr. Glassgow has more than 25 years of clinical experience, is a Principal- and Co-Investigator on several research projects, and has served in a variety of health care administration and high-level management positions.

Bianca Harris, BS, is a Health Coach and Doula in the UI Health Two-Generation Clinic. Ms. Harris received her Bachelors in Science with a minor in Community Health from Chicago State University. Ms. Harris is working on her lactation certification and has been instrumental in developing the framework for postnatal care for mothers and infants in the Two-Generation Clinic. Ms. Harris devoted over 10 years of her career to working with vulnerable populations. Recently, Ms. Harris served as a Visiting Research Specialist/ Health Coach on the Mhealth Diabetes Research Project where she worked with patients with diabetes and other comorbidities. Ms. Harris worked with a team to provide diabetes education and did aggressive glucose monitoring in order to promote diabetes self-management while supporting patients with other chronic diseases. Ms. Harris served as a member of Chicago Volunteer Doulas. She is a trained doula and practiced gender appropriation with a focus on supporting minorities during birth. Ms. Harris started a small business called Doula TLC, LLC in order to provide support to pregnant women in the south Chicago land area.

Abby Holicky serves as the Data Manager for the project and assists with data collection and evaluation to ensure we are meeting our goals. She received her MPH (Master of Public Health) degree in Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology from the UIC School of Public Health and has diverse experience in epidemiology, program planning, evaluation and administration in the field of maternal and child health. She has worked at the state-level in Iowa and Florida and most recently at the Illinois Department of Public Health. Abby is a native of Chicago and enjoys cooking, yoga and participating in book club.

Dr. Amanda Knepper is an Instructor in the Division of Academic Internal Medicine in the College of Medicine at UIC. Dr. Knepper received her PhD in Social Work from the Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois Chicago in May of 2021. She has practiced as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with diverse populations in the Chicagoland area for over a decade. Her current research efforts are oriented toward health and mental health promotion among perinatal populations. She currently provides qualitative research support (project planning, data collection, and analytics) to the IPROMOTE team on projects related to the Two-Generation Clinic at UI Health.

Yolanda Manrique is a bilingual licensed Social Worker in the Two Generation Clinic and Complex Care Needs Clinic. She received her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago specializing in mental health. She brings with her a wealth of knowledge from over 10 years of experience working with underserved families and communities in the Chicagoland area under various academic studies and programs. Yolanda is a lifelong resident of the great city of Chicago where she lives with her husband and two children. In her free time, Yolanda enjoys cooking, entertaining family and friends, and spending time at parks with her children.

Aida Rodriguez is a bilingual Social Worker in the Two Generation clinic assisting patients and families with their social, psychosocial, and environmental needs. Aida received her Master of Social Work (MSW) degree in Mental Health from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Aida has over ten years of experience working with diverse populations in the Chicago area. Her experience includes working as the Lead Health Coach in the mHealth for Diabetes Adherence Support, a study that uses a team-based model of care to help patients make lifestyle changes in order to reach their health goals and manage their diabetes. Prior to working in this study, Aida worked as the Lead Community Health Promoter in the Health Promoters and Pharmacist in Diabetes Team Management study, the Home INR study, and the Bringing Care to Patients: A Patient-Centered Medical Home for Kidney Disease study. As Community Health Promoter, Aida helped patients improve their quality of life by providing health education, assisting patients in goal setting, identifying barriers to healthcare, and providing resources to overcome those barriers.

Lauren Sayah, MPH serves as a Project Coordinator for I PROMOTE-IL. Lauren received a Master of Public Health degree in Maternal and Child Health from the George Washington University in 2022 and a Bachelor of Science in Health Science degree from Boston University in 2018. Prior to pursuing her MPH, Lauren worked in outreach and the recruitment of various biomedical HIV prevention studies. During her time at GW, she worked as a Research Assistant with their Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health. She also worked as the Medication Abortion Research Intern with Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, D.C., recruiting for a study examining patients’ experiences with telehealth and medication abortion. Lauren is excited to call Chicago her new home and enjoys reading, riding the train, and watching reality TV.

Shirley Scott, MS RN-BC, C-EFM, APN, is the Nurse Care Manager for the Innovations to ImPROve Maternal OuTcomEs in Illinois. Shirley has over thirty years of perinatal nursing experience. She currently participates in many city and state committees geared to decreasing maternal morbidity and mortality. Upon completion of her doctorate, she will work as a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner in the Two-Generation clinic at UI Health.