Dr. Linda Vignozzi is Associate Professor in Endocrinology at the University of Florence, and deputy Director of the Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences "Mario Serio". She is Director of Andrology, Women's Endocrinology and Gender Incongruence Unit of Careggi Hospital in Florence, Italy, an accreditated training center of the European Academy of Andrology, reference regional center for diagnosis and therapy of erectile dysfunction, reference regional center for semen cryopreservation, reference center for management of subjects with gender incongruence (CRIG). She is Vice President of the School of Medicine and Surgery of the University of Florence and General Secretary of the Permanent Conference of the Presidents of the Italian Schools of Medicine and Surgery.
Dr. Vignozzi received her MD and PhD in Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases at the University of Florence. At the School of Endocrinology and Metabolism - University of Pisa, she received her Postgraduate Specialty Certification in 2011. She is the co-author of over 150 manuscripts, has written several book chapters and invited reviews in the field of male and female sexual and reproductive medicine, hypogonadism and metabolic diseases, male and female genital tract diseases. She has served as a committee member of the Italian Society of Andrology and Sexual Medicine, Italy Society of Endocrinology, Italian Society of Obesity, International Society for Sexual Medicine, European Society for Sexual Medicine, and most recently served as Chair of the 2021 ISSWSH Scientific Program Committee.
Dr. Sally MacPhedran is a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist based out of Cleveland, Ohio. Her areas of expertise include birth control, Menopause care, Pelvic Pain, Pregnancy and Sexual Health. Dr. MacPhedran completed her medical training at Case Western Reserve University and went on to complete her internship and residency at the University of California-Irvine. In addition to being Membership Chair, Dr. MacPhedran currently serves on the Membership Outreach and Membership Diversity and Inclusion Committees for ISSWSH where she has played an active role in the expansion and outreach of the society.
Heather Howard, PhD, MPH, AASECT-CSC, AASECT-CSE, IF is a board certified sexologist and mind-body health facilitator with a clinical concentration in pelvic, sexual, and chronic pain. She founded the Center for Sexual Health and Rehabilitation to help clients meet their sexual and intimate goals, and developed the Ergœrotics® process to promote comfortable pleasure and create accessible resources for people in all bodies.
In addition to her private practice work, Heather developed a series of educational videos to help patients with chronic health conditions to find comfortable pleasure, as well as a library of ergonomic sexual positions to assist health care providers with making clinical recommendations to patients. She also completed funded research entitled “A Culturally-Informed Educational Program to Promote Sexual Health and Well-Being Among Refugee Women.”
She is co-chair of the Membership Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee of the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health (ISSWSH), Chair and founding member of the Pelvic and Sexual Health Network of Northern California (PASHN), faculty in the Sex Therapy Certificate program at California Institute of Integral Studies, and a CE Provider for the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT). She is formerly a clinical skills instructor for the Stanford School of Medicine Obstetrics & Gynecology Department and for the Herman and Wallace Pelvic Rehabilitation Institute, and an adjunct professor of clinical sexology at California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS).
Ms. Goldstein, a graduate of Brown University, is Sexuality Educator and Clinical Research Manager at San Diego Sexual Medicine, responsible for sexual medicine educational programming and clinical research. She works with the SDSM team to develop clinical research projects, write protocols and oversee clinical trials. She also arranges for training in sexual medicine for medical students, residents, fellows and clinicians from all over the country. She works with regional support groups to provide education to providers, students and the public. In addition, she develops programs for The Institute for Sexual Medicine, a charitable corporation dedicated to research and education in the field. Ms. Goldstein co-authored When Sex Isn’t Good to provide education and empowerment to women with sexual dysfunction. She is managing editor of Sexual Medicine Reviews. She is an associate editor of the Textbook of Female Sexual Function and Dysfunction, and Female Sexual Pain Disorders, and author of multiple peer reviewed papers. In addition to being President of ISSWSH and Industry Relations Chair, she serves on the Educational Projects, Fellowship and Female Sexual Function Committees of the Sexual Medicine Society of North America (SMSNA) and on the Scientific Projects Committee of the International Society for Sexual Medicine. She has contributed educational content for multiple societies. She is also a member of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) and the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP). She is an AASECT Certified Sexuality Educator and an ACRP Certified Clinical Research Coordinator. Ms. Goldstein received the Distinguished Service Award from ISSWSH in 2017 as well as from SMSNA in 2017.
Janeane N. Anderson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Community and Population Health in the College of Nursing at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) in Memphis, TN. Dr. Anderson completed postdoctoral research fellowships in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and the College of Medicine at UTHSC. She earned a Ph.D. in Communication from the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and a Master of Public Health degree with an emphasis in health communication from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.
Dr. Anderson’s research targets the relationship between patient-clinician communication practices and clinical and quality of life outcomes among racialized, marginalized patient populations., Using qualitative and participatory action research methods, she explores barriers and facilitators to patient-clinician communication about sexual health among Black women with breast cancer or vulvovaginal and chronic pelvic pain or Black sexual minority men with elevated risk for contracting HIV to identify actionable mechanisms for achieving patient health goals. Extramural funding from the National Cancer Institute has supported studies that explore patient-clinician communication, treatment adherence, and sexual health challenges among women with early-stage, hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. Recent funding from the Washington DC Center for AIDS Research supported development of a shared decision-making tool to improve uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among Black sexual minority men and from the Tennessee Department of Health to train clinicians in optimal communication practices for PrEP education and counseling. New funding from Gilead Sciences, Inc. will support a large-scale, multimodal investigation of multilevel barriers to healthcare access and utilization among Black women with de novo metastatic breast cancer and those with increased risk for advanced breast disease in the U.S. Mid-South region.
Dr. Anderson’s professional activities also include developing faculty resources and university-level programming to address diversity, equity, and inclusion goals and objectives. Some of her more recent efforts include developing pedagogical resources for UTHSC faculty to implement inclusive learning strategies in clinical learning environments and conducting professional communication workshops for College of Nursing and College of Medicine faculty to improve critical consciousness and communication with diverse students, patients, and community members. Dr. Anderson is frequently invited to give lectures on systems of oppression, patient-centered communication practices, and sensitive and socially relevant topics within U.S. healthcare contexts for national and international organizations, including the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health (ISSWSH), Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health (NPWH), International Urogynecological Association (IUGA), National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF), George Washington University School of Medicine, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Dr. Rachel Rubin is a board-certified urologist and sexual medicine specialist. She is an assistant clinical professor of Urology at Georgetown University and owns a private practice in the Washington DC region. She is one of only a handful of physicians fellowship trained in male and female sexual medicine. Dr. Rubin is a clinician, researcher, and vocal educator in the field of sexual medicine. She completed her medical and undergraduate training at Tufts University, her urology training at Georgetown University, and her fellowship training under Dr. Irwin Goldstein in San Diego. In addition to being Past ISSWSH Education chair, she also serves as Associate Editor for the journal Sexual Medicine Reviews.
Dr. Sheryl Kingsberg is the chief of the division of behavioral medicine at MacDonald Women’s Hospital/University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and Professor in Reproductive Biology and Psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University. Her areas of clinical specialization include sexual medicine, female sexual disorders, menopause, pregnancy and postpartum mood disorders, and psychological aspects of infertility.
Dr. Kingsberg’s primary research interests are in treatments for female sexual disorders and genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM). She has been the principal investigator for several clinical trials for treatments for female sexual disorders and consults for many pharmaceutical companies that are developing investigational drug treatments for sexual problems. She is an Associate Editor for Sexual Medicine Reviews and sits on the editorial boards of the journals Menopause and Climacteric.
Dr. Kingsberg is a past president of The North American Menopause Society and The International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health.
Dr. Jewel Kling is a Professor of Medicine, Chair of the Division of Women’s Health Internal Medicine, Assistant Director of the Women’s Health Center and Dean of the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine AZ campus at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona. She completed medical school and a master’s in public health at the University of Arizona Tucson and Internal Medicine Residency at Mayo Clinic Arizona, followed by a Chief Internal Medicine fellowship year. Her clinical and research interest are in menopause, sexual health, LGBT care, education, as well as efforts to expand the discipline of Sex and Gender specific medicine. Dr. Kling is recognized as an institutional and national expert and leader in menopause. She speaks at national meetings on topics related to menopause and hormone therapy and has published extensively in the field. She is a North American Menopause Society (NAMS) Certified Menopause Practitioner, a fellow and board member of the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health (ISSWSH), and board member of the American Medical Women’s Association Sex and Gender Health Collaborative. She is also part of the transgender and intersex specialty clinic committee at Mayo Clinic Arizona and has been a past co-chair of the LGBTI Mayo Employee Resource Group.
Dr. Sarah Cigna is an academic OBGYN and Sexual Medicine specialist in Washington, DC. She is an Assistant Professor at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences where she provides comprehensive sexual health care and has developed curricula for medical student and resident learners. She currently serves as the Director of the SAGA Center (Sexual Health and Gender Affirmation Center) at GWU, which she founded in October 2022. She is the Program Director of the first Sexual Medicine Fellowship for OBGYN Physicians in the USA. Her academic and research interests include sexual health and vulvovaginal conditions, particularly in the context of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She is determined to improve access to evidence-based and affordable sexual healthcare. Her clinical practice consists primarily of vulvar pain, sexual dysfunction, complex pelvic pain, and vulvar dermatoses. She is an ISSWSH fellow, has served on the ISSWSH education committee since 2020 and has lead multiple ISSWSH projects including creation of the Genitopelvic Pain virtual course and hands on workshop, expansion of the ISSWSH Slide Deck, and has taught at numerous ISSWSH Courses. She has been invited to speak at institutions all over the country regarding Sexual Medicine and aims to translate her clinical practice into a curriculum that can be shared with teaching programs. Dr. Cigna loves to teach above all else; her practice is based around teaching her patients, students, residents, and colleagues to better serve all people.
Dr. Corey Babb is a board-certified gynecologist who has dedicated his life to bringing awareness and acceptance to female sexual health. Through education, activism, and empathy, he helps people feel heard and validated, empowering them to find answers in a complicated medical environment. In addition to his gynecologic training, he is a Fellow of the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health (ISSWSH), a Menopause Society Certified Menopause Practitioner (MSCP), and a member in the International Society for the Study of Vulvovaginal Disorders (ISSVD). Currently, Dr. Babb serves on the board of directors for ISSWSH, is a reviewer for multiple sexual medicine journals, is a respected lecturer and educator, and has been featured in numerous national and international publications. He is a well-known voice on social media, appearing as a guest on numerous podcasts and symposiums, and is known for explaining complex medical topics with a simple-to-understand, casual style. At his private practice in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he sees patients from across the world and is passionate about illuminating and treating conditions that have been previously neglected or marginalized in modern medicine.
James A. Simon, MD, CCD, MSCP, IF, FACOG is Clinical Professor of Ob/Gyn at George Washington University in Washington DC. A board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist, reproductive endocrinologist, and AASECT-Certified Sexuality Counsellor, Dr. Simon’s private medical practice, IntimMedicine Specialists® (www.IntimMedicine.com), focuses on complicated gynecology, reproductive endocrinology, menopause, and sexual health. His pioneering experience utilizing both hormonal and non-hormonal therapies for menopausal and sexual problems has resulted in numerous awards including: “Top Washington Physicians,” “America’s Top Obstetricians and Gynecologists,” “Super Doctors of Washington DC-Baltimore-Northern Virginia,” and “The Best Doctors in America.” Dr. Simon is the only physician to serve as President of both The Menopause Society and the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health. Nicknamed “The Menopause Whisperer” by Washingtonian Magazine, Dr. Simon received both the NAMS-Leon Speroff Outstanding Educator Award and the ISSWSH-Distinguished Service Award. Dr. Simon is an established clinical investigator--completing more than 400 clinical research trials, and he’s also a prolific author—with more than 800 published articles, abstracts, chapters, proceedings, and the paperback book: Restore Yourself: A Woman’s Guide to Reviving Her Sexual Desire and Passion for Life. |
Dr. Renzelli-Cain is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fellow of the International Society of the Study of Women’s Sexual Health, a North American Menopause Society Certified Menopause Practitioner and member of the International Society for the Study of Vulvovaginal Diseases. She is a clinician, clinical researcher and passionate medical educator where she is currently an Associate Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at West Virginia University School of Medicine (WVUSOM) where she developed and now leads their Midlife, Sexual Medicine and Pelvic Health Programs. As the only Sexual Medicine Program in the state of West Virginia, Dr. Renzelli-Cain sees thousands of women from West Virginia and the surrounding tri-state area with a variety of sexual health concerns. As such, under the direction of Dr. Renzelli-Cain, the Obstetric and Gynecology residents have distinct rotations in Sexual Medicine and opportunities in research and are among an elite group of Obstetric and Gynecology residents to gain such an experience. The WVUSOM third year medical students also have a Sexual Medicine rotation as part of their Obstetric and Gynecology Clerkship, a Sexual Medicine Lecture built upon ISSWSH principles in their curriculum and have opportunity for a forth year elective in Sexual Medicine. WVUSOM is one of the few medical schools in the US to offer such a program. Both medical students and residents are invited to recurring quarterly Sexual Medicine Conferences where challenging patients are presented in a bio-psycho-social fashion including presentations from Pelvic Floor Physical and Sex Therapists. Dr. Renzelli-Cain is currently the Medical Director of the West Virginia National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health, one of the original twenty programs designated by the Department of Health and Human Resources, designed to improve the health of at risk women through advocacy, social programs, education and research. Dr. Renzelli-Cain uses her position to advocate for equal access to healthcare, including sexual healthcare across the state of West Virginia, surrounding Appalachia and the sexual medicine deserts still present in vast regions of the United States, without any Sexual Medicine providers to care for women close to home. Through education of medical students, residents and enhancing ISSWSH membership and Fellowship, Dr. Renzelli-Cain endeavors to effect change.
Dr. Estela Citrín is a Gynecologist/Obstetrician from the University of Uruguay. She also obtained the degree of Sexual Medicine Diploma in 2018. In 2020 she became responsible for the Sexual Medicine Diploma in Uruguay, a degree that is honorary and continues nowadays. She is also Fellow of the European Committee of Sexual Medicine (FECSM) since 2019, Master in Contraception and Reproductive Health (Universidad de Alcalá Spain) since 2018 and now President of the Uruguayan Society for Sexual Medicine that has been recently re founded.
Dr. Citrín has been a member of ISSWSH since 2021 and is part of the Education Committee, leads the Spanish Forum of ISSWSH and is committed to expand participation among members from other countries and languages.Dr. Heather Quaile, (she/her) is a clinical and academic leader and entrepreneur. A double board certified, women’s and gender health nurse practitioner and advanced forensic nurse specializing in human trafficking and female sexual health. Dr. Quaile is also trained and certified as an AASECT sex counselor and sexual assault nurse examiner providing sexual health education, trauma-informed care, and information to patients of all ages. She created and implemented a medical program for emergency stabilization for commercial sexual exploitation of youth in Georgia. Dr. Quaile has been working in all aspects of women’s healthcare for over 22 years caring for women of all ages across the health-illness continuum and recognized the lack of sexual health awareness not just in her community but in its providers as well and founded, developed, and implemented her private practice The Sexual Health Optimization and Wellness (SHOW) Center. Her goal is to help guide patients through their healthcare journey and provide a range of services that address the biopsychosocial aspects of health, wellness, optimization, and sexuality. She is passionate about changing the systems and beliefs that have stigmatized women’s health and female sexuality through a non-judgmental, empathic approach grounded in evidence-based research. She has been a member of The International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health (ISSWSH) since 2015. She gained designation as a Fellow of ISSWSH and is a member of the education committee, website committee, peer reviewer for the Journal of Sexual Medicine, as well as co-chair for the scientific committee. She is Treasurer of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health and is widely published in the field of women’s health, trauma-informed care, and regularly lectures to local and national audiences.
Dr. Sameena Rahman is a board-certified OB/GYN, sexmed gynecologist, founder of the Center for Gynecology and Cosmetics, Clinical Assistant of OBGYN and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and podcast host of Gyno Girl Presents: Sex, Drugs & Hormones. After years of practicing obstetrics and gynecology in a variety of large academic settings and locations, Dr. Rahman opened a practice to focus on her special areas of interest - sexmed gynecology and menopause medicine – and to ensure patients have their best quality of life. She is also an active member of ISSM (International Society for Sexual Medicine). She specializes in a multidisciplinary approach to chronic pelvic pain with pelvic floor therapy and Interventional Pain procedures in her office. For midlife women, Dr. Rahman, is also a specialist in menopause management with the designation of Certified Menopause Physician through the Menopause Society. Dr. Rahman was raised ‘in the south’ in North Carolina and understands what good ol southern hospitality means. She attended Duke University for her B.S. degree in Biology where she also specialized in Women’s Studies. She then continued in her home state at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for her M.D. As women’s health care and women’s issues have always been on the forefront of concerns for her, she moved up north for her residency in Massachusetts in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Massachusetts. After completing her residency, Dr. Rahman made her way out west to California where she spent four years on the faculty at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine. While in Los Angeles, she spent a great deal of time on resident and medical student education. Additionally, Dr. Rahman spent her personal time performing medical missions internationally with a variety of international women’s organizations as well as working with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Switzerland. |
Dr. Jill Krapf is a board-certified Obstetrician Gynecologist specializing in female sexual pain disorders and Director of Jill Krapf MD, Center for Vulvovaginal Disorders Florida in Tampa, FL. She is a Menopause Society-certified practitioner. Dr. Krapf is active in research and has published chapters and peer-reviewed articles on vulvodynia and vulvar lichen sclerosus. She is Associate Editor for the medical journal Sexual Medicine Online Access, as well as for the textbook Female Sexual Pain Disorders, 2nd Edition. She is an author of the trade book "When Sex Hurts." She is a Fellow of the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health (ISSWSH), serving on the Education Committee and chairing the Social Media Committee.