Officers
- Philip D. Darney, MD, MSc—Immediate Past President
- Mitchell D. Creinin, MD—President
- Mark Nichols, MD—President-Elect
- Melissa Gilliam, MD, MPH—Secretary
- John J. Sciarra, MD, PhD—Treasurer
At-large members
- Eve Espey, MD, MPH
- Marji Gold, MD
- Bryna Harwood, MD, MSc
- Allan Rosenfield, MD
- Lee Shulman, MD
- James Trussell, PhD
- Miriam Zieman, MD
- Nikki Zite, MD, MPH
Philip D. Darney, MD, MSc (Immediate Past President), Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco; Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology, San Francisco General Hospital. Philip Darney has authored more than 200 scientific papers, scholarly reviews, and book chapters on contraception, and has written three books on family planning. He has been on the medical faculties of UCSF, the Oregon Health Sciences University, and Harvard University. Over the past 25 years he has also served as scientific advisor to the U.S. Agency for International Development, Pathfinder International, and the American Public Health Association, among others. In addition, he has served as visiting professor or consultant in dozens of countries around the world. He received his MD from UCSF and his MSc from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Mitchell D. Creinin, MD (President), Professor, Director of Family Planning, and Division Director for Gynecologic Specialties, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine; Professor of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh. Mitchell Creinin is the author of more than 100 peer-review papers and numerous review articles, book chapters and books related to family planning and contraception. He receives research funding from the NIH, USAID, private foundations and industry. His current research interests include abnormal early pregnancy, medical and surgical abortion techniques, microbicides, and new contraceptive technologies including male and female barrier methods, hormonal contraceptive preparations, and intrauterine contraceptives. He is a member of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, National Abortion Federation, and the Society of Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health. Dr. Creinin received his MD from Northwestern University Medical School and completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology, as well as fellowships in family planning and clinical research, at the University of California at San Francisco.
Mark Nichols, MD (President-Elect), Professor and Division Head, General Gynecology and Obstetrics, Oregon Health Sciences University. In addition to heading the division of General Gynecology and Obstetrics, Mark Nichols is Director of the Family Planning Fellowship at OHSU. He also serves as Medical Director for Planned Parenthood of the Columbia Willamette, and was a member of the National Medical Committee of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America from 1996 to 2002. His research interests are in teaching medical students and residents in family planning and abortion, reduction of pain during surgical abortion, and hormonal contraception. Dr. Nichols received his MD from University of California, Davis, and performed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Oregon Health Sciences University.
Melissa Gilliam, MD, MPH (Secretary), Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chief of the Division of Family Planning and Contraceptive Research, and Director of the Fellowship in Family Planning, University of Chicago. With degrees in English literature, philosophy and politics, Dr. Gilliam’s research takes a broad approach to the study of family planning. She employs social science, qualitative and quantitative techniques to explore contraceptive behaviors with a particular interest in postpartum contraceptive use and contraceptive use and attitudes toward pregnancy among low-income African-American and Latino/a adolescents and. She is funded by private foundations, The National Institute of Health, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Centers for Disease Control. Dr. Gilliam’s clinical interest is in pediatric and adolescent gynecology. She currently serves on the Editorial Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and chairs the Board of Directors of the Guttmacher Institute. She received her BA from Yale University, MA from Oxford University, MD from Harvard University.
John J. Sciarra, MD, PhD (Treasurer), Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Northwestern University Medical School. John Sciarra served as the Thomas J. Watkins Professor and Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Northwestern University Medical School and Northwestern Memorial Hospital from 1974 to 2003. From 1991 to 1994, Dr. Sciarra served as President of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), an association representing over 100 member countries. His other international positions have included serving as both a member and Chairman of the Scientific and Ethical Review Group of the World Health Organization Special Program of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction; as Chairman of the External Advisory Board for the Carnegie Corporation Project for Post-Graduate Training in Obstetrics and Gynecology in Ghana; and as President of the International Society for Gynecologic Endoscopy (ISGE). Dr. Sciarra has written more than 200 scientific papers and has authored or edited 16 books in the areas of obstetrics and gynecology, family planning, and contraceptive development. He has served as Editor of Gynecology and Obstetrics since 1973, and as Editor of the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics from 1985-2007. He received both his MD and Ph.D. from Columbia University.
Eve Espey, MD, MPH, Associate Dean of Students, School of Medicine, and Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of New Mexico. Eve Espey has a dual interest in family planning/abortion as well as
medical student education. She has actively promoted inclusion of family planning and abortion in the medical school curriculum both locally and nationally. She serves on the undergraduate medical education committee of the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics and on the Committee for Underserved Women of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She also serves on the board of Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health and NARAL Pro-Choice New Mexico. She received her MD and completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology from the University of California, Irvine, and completed her Masters in Public Health at the University of Washington.
Marji Gold, MD, Professor of Family and Social Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Marji Gold practices family medicine and supervises medical students and residents at a community health center in the Bronx, where she has been working for 25 years. She also is a trainer in the CTI program at Planned Parenthood/NYC, where she has been working since the program started in 1995. She wrote the first curriculum for training non-OB-GYN clinicians in early abortion practice. She is also the Director of the Center for Reproductive Health Education in Family Medicine, and works with family medicine residency programs around the country to help them develop early abortion training and service that is fully integrated into the residency curriculum. Dr. Gold received her MD from New York University College of Medicine and completed her residency at Montefiore Medical Center.
Bryna Harwood, MD, MSc, Assistant Professor, Director of the Section of Family Planning and Director of the Family Planning Fellowship, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Illinois at Chicago. Prior to moving to the University of Illinois at Chicago, Bryna Harwood served for five years as Assistant Director of the Family Planning Fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh. She has collaborated on clinical trials on the safety and efficacy of new methods of contraception and microbicide clinical trials, and has a long history of collaboration and leadership on clinical trials on the safety and efficacy of new methods of contraception and evaluation of gynecologic safety in microbicide trials. In January 2008, Dr. Harwood was named a Scholar in the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health Program funded by the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Harwood received her MD at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. She completed her residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Kaiser Foundation Hospital in San Francisco.
Allan Rosenfield, MD, DeLamar Professor and Dean Emeritus, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University. Allan Rosenfield served as Dean of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health from 1986 to 2008. He is a member of numerous scientific and professional organizations and has served on the boards and/or committees of a wide range of international, national, state and local health-related organizations. He was a founder of Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health. Dr. Rosenfield’s research, teaching and advocacy are world renowned and have been recognized by honorary awards too numerous to list here. In 2007, SFP created the Allan Rosenfield Award for Lifetime Contributions to International Family Planning in his honor. He has written extensively (with over 140 published articles) on domestic and international issues in the fields of population, women's reproductive health, maternal mortality, HIV/AIDS, human rights and health policy and developed major global initiatives on maternal mortality, reproductive health, women’s health and HIV/AIDS. He received his MD from Columbia University.
Lee Shulman, MD, Professor and Chief of the Division of Reproductive Genetics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University. Lee Shulman is a member of numerous regional, national and international organizations that pertain to the health and care of women. He is Editor-in-Chief of the emedicine.com textbook and the Yearbook of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Corresponding Editor of the Journal of Reproductive Medicine and Associate Editor of The Female Patient. He also serves on the editorial board of three other journals and as a peer-reviewer for 21 journals. He is the author of over 100 peer-reviewed articles and over 40 book chapters; serves on governmental, foundation and pharmaceutical advisory boards; and is currently on the Medical Advisory Board for the Chicago Center for Jewish Genetic Diseases. His major research focus is in reproductive genetics, contraception and medical education. Dr. Shulman received his MD from Cornell University Medical College and completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at North Shore University Hospital in New York.
James Trussell, PhD, Professor of Economics and Public Affairs and Director of the Office of Population Research, Princeton University. James Trussell is the author or co-author of more than 200 scientific publications, primarily in the areas of reproductive health and demographic methodology. His recent research has been focused in three areas: emergency contraception, contraceptive failure, and the cost-effectiveness of contraception. He has actively promoted making emergency contraception more widely available as an important step in helping women reduce their risk of unintended pregnancy; in addition to his research on this topic, he maintains an emergency contraception website (not-2-late.com) and designed and launched a toll-free emergency contraception hotline (1-888-NOT-2-LATE). He is a Senior Fellow at the Guttmacher Institute and a member of the Board of Directors of the NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation and The Guttmacher Institute, and a member of the National Medical Committee of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. He serves on the editorial advisory committees of Contraception and Contraceptive Technology Update. Dr. Trussell received a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University.
Miriam Zieman, MD, Associate Professor and Director of Family Planning, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Emory University of Medicine. Miriam Zieman instructs residents and medical students and was Director of Curriculum for 3rd-year medical students at Emory for several years. She directs a fellowship for obstetricians and gynecologists in Family Planning. Dr. Zieman attended Einstein Medical School and did her obstetrics and gynecology residency at Columbia University.
Nikki Zite, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor and Residency Program Associate Director, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Dr. Zite is the Junior Fellow representative on SFP's board. She graduated from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in 1998 and completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Tennessee at Memphis in 2002. She then obtained her Masters in Public Health and completed a Fellowship in Family Planning and Contraception at the University of Illinois at Chicago. During her fellowship, her research concentrated on issues related to sterilization. She followed this up with several publications describing her studies on this important contraceptive option, and continues to have an interest in the topic. Dr. Zite is also an editor of Obstetrics and Gynecology for the Primary Care Physician and The Yearbook of Ob/Gyn.
