National Perinatal Information Center
National Perinatal Information Center


    
BOARD OF DIRECTORS - BIOGRAPHY


George Little, MD
Professor of Pediatrics and Obstetrics & Gynecology, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center

Dr. Little has served on the Board of the National Perinatal Information Center/Quality Analytic Services since 1993.  He is a practicing academic neonatologist.  He served for over a decade as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Maternal and Child Health at Dartmouth before it became departments of Pediatrics and Ob/Gyn.  His interests include perinatal health policy, regionalization, outcomes, reproductive and perinatal ethics, the family in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) and international health.  He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and an Honorary Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.  He received his MD from the University of Vermont, completed a rotating internship at the University of Oregon and then was a Public Health Service officer serving with the Peace Corps for 3 years.  He then completed a pediatric residency at the University of Vermont and a neonatology fellowship at the University of Colorado before joining the faculty at Dartmouth Medical School where he founded the neonatal intensive care unit and the regional perinatal outreach education program.  He is presently a member of the national steering committee of the Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) of the American Academy of Pediatrics and American Heart Association, and he is cochair of the Global Implementation Task Force for Helping Babies Breathe (HBB), a neonatal resuscitation curriculum for resource poor areas.

John J. Botti, MD
Chief Section MFM -- H103, Hershey Medical Center

Dr. Botti has served on the Board of the National Perinatal Information Center/Quality Analytic Services since 1999.  Dr. Botti currently serves as a maternal – fetal medicine specialist and Director of Perinatal Outreach Services for Penn State Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, PA.  Dr. Botti is a past president of the National Perinatal Association and is a current member of the board of the National Perinatal Foundation. During his career, he has continued to combine academic teaching and research with clinical care and community service in an effort to improve pregnancy outcomes.  Dr. Botti has also served on the advisory board for the National Friendly Access program of the Lawton and Rhea Chiles Center at the University of South Florida.  Dr. Botti is a 1970 graduate of the University of Notre Dame, received his MD from Albany Medical College of Union University, and residency and fellowship training from the University of Pittsburgh, Magee Women's Hospital.

Martin J. McCaffrey, MD
Dr. McCaffrey has served on the Board of the National Perinatal Information Center/Quality Analytic Services since 2007.  He has worked with NPIC/QAS for the last five years.  As the Specialty Leader for Neonatology, he developed a keen appreciation for the need for large health systems to evaluate, refine and act on the large amounts of data they regularly collected and reported.  He has been a key advisor and champion on our Department of Defense contract.  Dr. McCaffrey retired from the Navy Medical Corps in September, 2006 to assume a position as Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  Dr. McCaffrey is the Director of the Perinatal Quality Collaborative of North Carolina (PQCNC) and a recognized expert in the pursuit of quality in perinatal care.  Dr. McCaffrey is a 1982 graduate of the University of Connecticut and Albany Medical College.  He did his pediatric residency at Naval Hospital San Diego and a postdoctoral fellowship in neonatology at the UNC, Chapel Hill.  He is Board Certified in Pediatrics and Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine.  His military career included duty at the Naval Hospital Guam as Department Head for Pediatrics and Naval Medical Center San Diego where he was Director of the NICU for ten years prior to his retirement in 2006.

Winnie O. Willis, RN, ScD
Professor Emeritus

Dr. Willis has served on the Board of the National Perinatal Information Center/Quality Analytic Services since 1998.  She taught in the San Diego State University School of Public Health from 1984 to 2005, with a particular focus on maternal and child health, and public health nursing.  During that time, she helped many professionals from all health and related disciplines to attain the Master of Public Health and PhD degrees.  She has been Principal Investigator on national, state and privately funded research, evaluation and community-based service grants.  These grants included: pesticide exposure in pregnant women, prevention of infant mortality in African-American women, health in child day care, and health professions training.  Currently, she also serves as a Director of the California Endowment, the largest healthcare foundation in California.  Dr. Willis received her public health degrees from Harvard and Johns Hopkins Universities.

Jeanne Luckett
Ms. Luckett has served on the Board of the National Perinatal Information Center/Quality Analytic Services since 1991.  A writer and video producer by profession, she co-owned a graphic design and media production studio for 32 years and now runs a free-lance communications consulting business.  Ms. Luckett served as chairman of the Infant Mortality Task Force in Mississippi for 20 years and chaired the Mississippi Coalition for Mothers and Babies for six years.  She served the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy on the State and Local Action Task Force for seven years.  Past president of the Mississippi Perinatal Association, she also served on the boards of the National Perinatal Association and the National Perinatal Foundation.  An advocate for maternal and child health causes, she has spoken at more than 100 national, regional, and state meetings.  She has been honored by the National Perinatal Association, the March of Dimes, the Mississippi Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the National Association of Social Workers for her advocacy.  Ms. Luckett holds a B.A. in English from Millsaps College, attended the University of Georgia's Graduate School of Journalism, and completed work for an M.A. in English at Mississippi College.

Raymond L. Cox, MD, MBA
Chair of OB/GYN Department, St. Agnes Hospital, Baltimore, MD

Dr. Cox has served on the Board of the National Perinatal Information Center/Quality Analytic Services since 2008.  Dr. Raymond Cox earned his bachelor's degree from Howard University and his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School.   He completed his internship and residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Grady Memorial Hospital-Emory University in Atlanta. Dr. Cox earned his Master's in Business Administration from Johns Hopkins University.  Dr. Cox has long focused on delivering high-quality health care to underserved women.  In addition to having served as Maryland Section Chair of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, he chaired the organization's Committee on the Health of Underserved Women.  Currently, he serves as Chair of the Maryland Patient Safety Center Perinatal Collaborative.  Dr. Cox also serves on the Ascension Health Perinatal Safety Steering Committee and on the Board of Directors for the Maryland Patient Safety Center.

Karla Damus, PhD, MSPH, RN, FAAN
Associate Clinical Professor

Dr. Damus has served on the Board of the National Perinatal Information Center/Quality Analytic Services since 2001.  She is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women's Health at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx.  She designed and was the Program Director and co-PI of the 2007-2009 national model initiative to reduce preterm births in Kentucky, Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait.  Dr. Damus is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, and a member of the Select Expert Panel on Preconception Health, and the Nurse Advisory Council for the National March of Dimes. She is also a consultant to the Obstetrics and Gynecology Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee Food and Drug Administration.  Dr. Damus is a perinatal epidemiologist and a nurse, having received her PhD in epidemiology from the University of California at Berkeley and two Master of Science degrees from UCLA in Nursing and Public Health.

Marilyn B. Escobedo, MD
Reba Mc Entire Chair in Neonatology, Director of Section of Neonatal Perinatal Medicine, Children's Hospital of Oklahoma

Dr. Escobedo has served on the Board of the National Perinatal Information Center/Quality Analytic Services since 1998.  She has been with the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center since 2001 where she serves as division chief, head of OUMC newborn and NICU services and directs the Fellowship Training Program.  Dr. Escobedo is board-certified in pediatrics and neonatal/perinatal medicine.  Prior to joining the OU Health Sciences Center and OU Physicians, Dr. Escobedo headed the neonatology program at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.  Dr. Escobedo, was awarded the 2003 National Neonatology Educator Award for her involvement in medical education for the American Association of Pediatricians.  Her work included creating a model to teach neonatal resuscitation and developing a national review course for neonatologists.  She also studied the way residents acquire neonatal intubation skills.  She received the Founder's Award of the Southern Society for Pediatric Research in 2009 for her contributions to research, education and leadership.  Dr. Escobedo has pioneered neonatal intensive care unit design concepts, including the first fully computerized charting system for a NICU in the United States.  She earned her MD from Washington University in St. Louis, MO.  Dr Escobedo had her residency at Washington University Teaching Hospital in St. Louis, MO, she did a fellowship at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, TN as well as one at Washington University Teaching Hospital in St. Louis, MO.

John V. Hartline, MD
Dr. Hartline has served on the Board of the National Perinatal Information Center/Quality Analytic Services since 1987.  Dr. Hartline has a wealth of experience in neonatal care and in the planning and implementation of neonatal health services.  He was in the private practice of neonatology in Kalamazoo, MI until 2001.  He was actively engaged in health care and medical education as a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and Human Development, Michigan State University School of Human Medicine, and in college education as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Philosophy (Medical Ethics) at Western Michigan University.  Dr. Hartline has served as President of the National Perinatal Association.  Currently, he is engaged in several projects and activities at the American Academy of Pediatrics, including the Pediatric Leadership Alliance, the Section on Perinatal Pediatrics Committee on Practice Management, and as an Editor of NeoReviewsPlus©, an online self-assessment activity for neonatologists for which part 2 MOC credit is available.

Mary L. Henrikson, RN, BSN, MS, WHCNP
Ms. Henrikson has served on the Board of the National Perinatal Information Center/Quality Analytic Services since 2009.  She is the Senior Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women, San Diego's only hospital for women and one of only 17 freestanding women's hospitals in the nation.  She joined Sharp HealthCare in 2000 as Chief Operating Officer of Sharp Mary Birch, and was appointed to her current position in 2006.  In addition to her duties as CEO, Ms. Henrikson is a member of the Council of Women and Infants Specialty Hospitals where she currently holds the office of Vice President, and the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) Nursing for Women's Health Editorial Board.   She has held board positions at both the district and national levels for AWHONN, and served as its national president in 2002.  She is a member of the medical advisory committee for Planned Parenthood of San Diego County. She is also an accomplished author and national speaker.  Ms. Henrikson received her BSN from Montana State University and a MS in maternal-infant nursing from the University of Washington in Seattle.  In 1981, she received her nurse practitioner certificate from the Women's Health Care Nurse Practitioner Program at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, California.

Rachel Schiffman, PhD, RN, FAAN
Professor & Associate Dean for Research, College of Nursing, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Dr. Schiffman has served on the Board of the National Perinatal Information Center/Quality Analytic Services since 1997.  As Associate Dean for Research, Dr. Schiffman provides leadership to the College of Nursing by facilitating and fostering faculty research.  She serves as a member of the Dean's administrative team to enhance and further develop the research activities and scholarship of the faculty.  Dr. Schiffman assists investigators in planning programs of study and in developing applications for funding.  She is also responsible for the coordination of the Harriet H. Werley Center for Nursing Research and Evaluation, which provides support services for grant application preparation including budgets and data analysis.  She is a Center Scientist in the College's Self-Management Science Center [an exploratory development center funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research (P20NR010674)] and the Director of the University's Clinical and Translational Science Research Office.  She is an Associate Editor for the Infant Mental Health Journal.  Dr. Schiffman's expertise is in parent-child nursing, prenatal care, early childhood intervention programs, and community-university partnerships.  She also contributed her expertise as a Society for Research in Child Development Executive Branch Fellow at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) with a focus on the health and developmental consequences of prenatal exposure to and drug use among children, adolescents and young adults.  Dr. Schiffman has played an integral role as a local researcher and Consortium member of the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project (EHS), having served on a steering committee and on the EHS Fathers Study subcommittee.  Dr. Schiffman received her B.S. in nursing from Boston College, she received her Ph.D. in Education from the University of Connecticut, with a specialty in educational psychology, and prior to her doctoral training, she received her M.S. in nursing from the University of Connecticut.

Larry Veltman, MD, FACOG
Risk Management & Perinatal Safety Consultant

Dr. Veltman has served on the Board of the National Perinatal Information Center/Quality Analytic Services since 2010.  Dr. Veltman practiced obstetrics and gynecology in Portland, Oregon for 31 years; retiring in January, 2007.  While he was in practice, he was Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology for ten years at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Oregon.  Dr. Veltman is past chair of the Committee on Professional Liability for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and currently serves on ACOG's Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Committee.  He is currently a consultant with respect to a variety of subjects dealing with medical malpractice, patient safety, and risk management as they relate to perinatal care.

    
 
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