PRESTO Community/Scientific Advisory Board – 2026-2028 Term
We are proud to introduce our PRESTO Community/Scientific Advisory Board for the 2026-2028 term. The advisory board is tasked with guiding the scientific directions of the study. Their insight will help lead PRESTO to examine highly relevant research questions, maximize public health impact, and advance health equity.
Kara Ayers, PhD, is the Associate Director and an Associate Professor at the University of Cincinnati Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCCEDD). She is Director of the Center for Disability, Equity, and Intersectionality and also a co-founder of the Disabled Parenting Project. She is a co-investigator for the National Research Center for Parents with Disabilities and the National Center for Disability and Pregnancy Research. Dr. Ayers’ interests include disability identity/culture, bioethics, community inclusion, and the use of media to teach, empower, and reduce stigma. She serves on multiple task forces and national and state coalitions related to improving outcomes for people with disabilities and infuses the mantra, “Nothing about us without us,” into all of her scholarly and community-based pursuits.
Dr. Brittany Charlton is an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute in the Department of Population Medicine and at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in the Department of Epidemiology. She is also the Co-Director of the Harvard SOGIE (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression) Health Equity Research Collaborative and Adjunct Faculty at The Fenway Institute.
MyDzung T. Chu, PhD, MSPH, is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Public Health and Community Medicine at the Tufts University School of Medicine. She is also the Director of the ADAPT (Addressing Disparities in Asian Populations through Translational Research) Coalition at the Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute. As an environmental epidemiologist, she is invested in community-engaged research on social-contextual and environmental determinants of health for Asian and immigrant populations, particularly in the built environment. Her current collaborations with community partners include investigating the association of acculturation and environmental factors on gestational diabetes mellitus for Chinese foreign-born women; evaluating cultural responsiveness of the Mental Health First Aid for Asian populations in Greater Boston; and assessing the impact of administrative burdens in affordable housing access on health. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the George Washington University examining the impact of federal housing assistance on residential environmental hazards like lead. Dr. Chu received her PhD in Population Health Sciences from Harvard University, MSPH in Environmental Health and Epidemiology from Emory University, and BA in Neuroscience from Smith College. She is a JPB in Environmental Health Fellow and a former Agents of Change in Environmental Justice Fellow and Gates Millennium Scholar.
Julia D. Interrante, PhD, MPH, is a Research Fellow in the Division of Health Policy and Management at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health and the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center. She holds a BA in Gender Studies and International Relations from the University of Virginia, a MPH in Epidemiology from Emory University, and a PhD in Health Services Research from the University of Minnesota. Her prior work as an epidemiologist at the CDC focused on gender disparities, maternal medication use, and disease surveillance and prevention in both the domestic and international context. Her current research examines the effects of reproductive health policies on maternal health outcomes, with specific focus on geographic and racial health equity as well as access to care, and includes topics such as disparities in severe maternal morbidity and mortality, changing access to rural maternity care, and the impact of payment policies on postpartum care.
Dr. Richard Oster is the Scientific Director of the Indigenous Wellness Core of Alberta Health Services, based out of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Richard is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural, Food & Nutritional Sciences (University of Alberta) and in the Department of Community Health Sciences (University of Calgary.). His research takes a strengths-based and partnership approach, building specifically on Indigenous ways of knowing and the resilience and strength within communities, as opposed to using a deficit-focused western lens which tends to dominate the field.
Dr. Bilqis Williams MPH, DF- FIGHR is a medical doctor, global and environmental public health practitioner. Dr. Williams possesses over a decade of experience serving in clinical, research, managerial and crisis resolution roles. She has a track record of success in feminine health, mental health, community and policy development, geospatial analysis, health equity, racial justice, inclusive leadership, human rights activism, immigrant/ refugee and displaced persons health and humanitarian service. Dr. Williams is the creator of the 20% equity rule and has informed diversity and sensitivity policies for Congress candidates in the US. Bilqis has led different interprofessional teams to provide community support systems and advocacy, sustainable energy projects between cities across the world and is a writer of interest in environmental and global health. She also advises independent research institutions on the varying intersections of that influence health outcomes. Dr. Williams is the first ever recipient of the Peace Prize for Community Activism and is listed by the Boston University School of Public Health as one of 20 change makers of our century. Dr. Bilqis Williams currently serves as Federation for International Gender and Human Rights (FIGHR) Mission Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Ever since she was a young child, Kathryn Rowan, MSN, CNM, was drawn to pregnancy and birth. It was not until she studied abroad in Europe during college, however, that she truly learned about modern midwifery and started her path towards becoming a nurse-midwife. After graduating with an undergraduate degree in Behavioral Neuroscience, she took a job as a clinical researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital on a study involving pregnancy and newborns. During that time, she also became a birth doula and attended numerous births which further strengthened her desire to become a midwife. Kathryn attended the Yale School of Nursing and completed her nursing and midwifery degrees in 2012. Since that time, Kathryn has been working as a full-scope midwife in the Boston area providing prenatal, gynecologic, contraceptive, and medical abortion care to her patients. She also teaches midwifery students through Boston College and serves as the Co-Chair of the Quality Assurance Committee at Mount Auburn Hospital. She is the lead midwife for the community health center and has a passion for reproductive justice. In her free time, Kathryn enjoys spending time with her spouse and kids. They love to hike, bike, play in the water, and travel.
Jake Anderson-Bialis co-founded Inflection with his wife, Deborah, after their own experience with infertility. What began as a trusted resource preparing more than 3 million hopeful parents for their family building journey has grown into a platform providing expert guidance for other major life transitions—like menopause, divorce, elder care, and end-of-life. Jake is widely recognized for his advocacy in fertility education, healthcare transparency, and patient empowerment. His work centers on educating and supporting people through some of the most emotionally complex stages of life, bringing empathy, clarity, and agency to moments that matter most.
Tanika Gray Valbrun is an award-winning Journalist and Non-profit leader. After her personal struggles with uterine fibroids, Tanika’s desire to support herself and other women inspired her to create The White Dress Project, a non-profit organization on a mission of to raise global awareness about the uterine fibroid epidemic through education, research, community, and advocacy. By sharing her personal story, Tanika has encouraged thousands of women across the world to speak up, be their own best health advocate and no longer suffer in silence. As such, The White Dress Project is made up of women with impactful fibroid journeys, who are uniquely positioned to educate, empower, and support those who are managing life with fibroids.
In addition to encouraging women to be their own health advocates, Tanika works as a Senior Content Producer for CNN where she has been awarded three coveted Peabody Awards for her contributions in journalism. Tanika works closely with CNN’s 1200 media affiliates and manages multiple projects including national and international newsgathering, and demonstrating strong editorial and legal judgment through investigating, pitching and developing stories to serve all of CNN’s and HLN’s platforms. She is the recipient of Georgia Trend’s and Atlanta Business Chronicle’s “40 under 40″ Awards.”