Experts' Biographies
About "Ask the Reproductive Health Experts"
"Ask the Reproductive Health Experts" is a question and answer column produced by the National Women's Health Resource Center (NWHRC). The questions submitted to the service are answered by the NWHRC Ask the Reproductive Health Expert panel, a team of medical experts with extensive research and clinical experience in the field of reproductive health. Members of the panel include: Ellen W. Freeman, PhD, Veronica A. Ravnikar, MD, Heather Reynolds, CNM, MSN, Steven R. Goldstein, MD, Dr. Thomas Lyons and Carolyn M. Mazure, PhD. Their biographies are below:
Ellen W. Freeman, PhD, is research professor in the Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia. She directs the PMS Research Program and is codirector of the Human Behavior and Reproductive unit in the Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology, a program that focuses on mood and behavioral issues associated with reproductive function.
Dr. Freeman is the principal investigator for a 15-year, NIH-funded study of women transitioning to menopause to evaluate the relationship between ovarian aging and symptoms attributed to menopause. She is also the principal investigator for NIH-funded studies of the efficacy of treatments for premenstrual syndromes.
The author or coauthor of more than 150 scientific articles, book chapters, reviews, and abstracts on premenstrual syndrome, perimenopause, adolescent pregnancy, infertility and related topics and a book on teenage pregnancy. Dr. Freeman's articles have been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Archives of General Psychiatry, Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, Fertility and Sterility and Menopause, among others. She serves on the editorial boards of Medscape, Archives of Women's Mental Health and Women's Health/Future Medicine. Dr. Freeman is a member of the American Society for Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology and Anxiety Disorders Association of America and is a Fellow in the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
Veronica A. Ravnikar, MD, is the chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at South Shore Hospital in South Weymouth, MA. Before joining South Shore Hospital, she was chairperson of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in New Jersey.
Dr. Ravnikar has held numerous positions including professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center and director of UMMC's Division of Reproductive Endocrine and Infertility. She is an associate clinical gynecologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and a lecturer at Harvard Medical School. At Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dr. Ravnikar holds an adjunct appointment as obstetrician/gynecologist. She most recently became an associate clinical professor in obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Ravnikar finished her residency at Northwestern University and trained in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School. She was on staff at Brigham and Women's Hospital for 10 years and Massachusetts General for three years. In 1991, she received an award for "Excellence in Teaching Reproductive Endocrine" from the gynecologic residents at Harvard Medical School and was the 2003 recipient of the Northwestern Obstetrical Gynecological Society's Alumni of the Year Award.
Dr. Ravnikar holds positions in numerous professional societies and health-related organizations. She has been chair for the Menopause Division of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, chair of the Hormone Therapy Group of the Women's Health Initiative, advisory board member for the American Heart Association, and has served on the editorial boards of Women's Health Digest and Prevention magazine. She is a member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Society for Gynecologic Investigation, and the Endocrine and Menopause Societies. Her original research covers such topics as menopause and sleep, bone density loss in amennorrheic women, menopause and smoking, menopausal osteoporosis, and the effects of hormone replacement therapy.
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| Heather Reynolds, CNM, MSN |
Heather Reynolds, CNM, MSN, is an associate professor of nursing in the Nurse-Midwifery Specialty Program at Yale School of Nursing. She entered Yale's door as a nursing student with a degree from Boston University in psychology and a background in child development and social work. She graduated with her masters in nursing from Yale in 1980.
Reynolds started her career as a nurse educator when she joined the faculty at the University of Colorado Nurse-Midwifery Program in 1983. She returned to Yale in 1986 and has been caring for two generations of young women having their babies at Yale-New Haven Hospital. She practices in the Women's Center at Yale New Haven Hospital, where she provides a broad spectrum of ambulatory services to the women there. She was the nurse-midwifery service director at Yale-New Haven from 1988 to 2002.
In addition, Reynolds has served as a member of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Infant Mortality, the New Haven Healthy Start Initiative and the greater New Haven Fetal and Infant Mortality Review and is on the board of the Society of Primary Care Policy Fellows. All of her professional career has involved the provision of health care to underserved and unserved populations.
Reynolds is a frequent participant in forward-looking clinical research projects. She has studied and written about breastfeeding, midwifery service administration, group prenatal care, adolescent health care and adolescent risk reduction.
Steven R. Goldstein, MD, is a professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at New York University School of Medicine. He has been on faculty there since 1980. He also maintains a private practice as a generalist in obstetrics and gynecology in the Faculty Practice suites at New York University. He graduated magna cum laude from Colgate University with a baccalaureate degree in biology. He graduated from the New York University School of Medicine in 1975 and did an internship in obstetrics and gynecology at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, TX. He did a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at New York University Affiliated Hospitals/Bellevue Hospital Center.
His longstanding interest in ob/gyn ultrasound has led him to his current position as Director of Gynecologic Ultrasound at New York University Medical Center. He is a fellow of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine and is its first vice president. He serves on the board of trustees of the North American Menopause Society. He also has served on the board of directors of the American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers and is a past chairman of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, New York Section. He was author of its technical bulletin, Ultrasound in Gynecology, as well as the author of its practice guidelines on Selective Estrogen Receptor Moderators (SERMs). He serves as the liaison physician from the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology to the Women's Health Imaging Panel of the American College of Radiology. He is an examiner for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
His pioneering work in menopausal and perimenopausal ultrasound led him into design of uterine safety studies for several SERMs. In addition he is the codirector of the Bone Densitometry Unit at NYU Medical Center. Clinically his practice has evolved into issues of menopausal and perimenopausal medicine with particular interest in ultrasound applications for adnexal masses and abnormal bleeding.
Dr. Goldstein is the author of several books, including Could it be...Perimenopause? and The Estrogen Alternative. He has authored textbooks titled Endovaginal Ultrasound and Ultrasound in Gynecology. More recently, he authored Imaging in the Infertile Couple and Textbook of Perimenopausal Gynecology. He has written more than 30 chapters in textbooks and more than 60 original research articles and has been a guest faculty member, invited speaker, visiting professor or course director over 300 times.
Dr. Goldstein is married, has two children and lives in New York City.
Dr. Thomas Lyons
Dr. Thomas Lyons is medical director of HealthSouth Surgery Center and is on staff at Northside Hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital and Northside Cherokee in Georgia. His clinical practice is the Center for Women's Care & Reproductive Surgery in Dunwoody, GA. He also conducts resident training at Atlanta Medical Center in conjunction with the Medical College of Georgia and is an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Georgia.
A graduate of the University of Georgia with a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's in clinical and biopsychology, Dr. Lyons earned his medical degree from the University of Colorado, where he financed his education playing football with the Denver Broncos. An accomplished pianist, he was honored by the invitation to guest conduct the Denver Symphony Orchestra during his time there.
Dr. Lyons has participated in numerous academic and clinical studies and authored more than 150 scholarly publications. He is coauthor of What To Do When The Doctor Says It's Endometriosis: Everything You Need to Know to Stop the Pain and Heal Your Fertility.
His clinical practice is devoted to gynecologic endoscopy, pelvic reconstructive surgery and infertility. He is dedicated to the development and teaching of minimally invasive, patient-friendly procedures to physicians worldwide and is a recognized leader in exploring causes and prevention of pelvic pain, including adhesion-related disorders.
Carolyn M. Mazure, PhD
Carolyn M. Mazure, PhD, is a Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Dean for Faculty at Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Mazure created and directs Yale's interdisciplinary research program on health and gender, Women's Health Research at Yale. Her own research focuses on stress, depression and, more recently, addictive disorders. She has been a speaker nationally and internationally at diverse venues including NASA and the Smithsonian Institution, and she has been featured on ABC's Prime Time Live and the BBC documentary The Science of Stress. Dr. Mazure has testified to Congress on the importance of women's health research and has served as a Public Health Fellow on the Government Reform Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.
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