OB/GYN Now

Meet Tulin Ozcan, MD; Angela Qu, DO; Catherine Salva, MD, MSEd; and Aparna Kailasam, MD, MBA, MS.

• Sangini Sheth, MD, MPH, was promoted to vice chair for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She was previously the department's director of DEI. She's also been named interim division director of GYN Specialties.
• Linda Fan, MD, has been elected president of the Yale New Haven Hospital Medical Staff.
• Katherine Campbell, MD, MPH, is chief of obstetrics at Yale New Haven Hospital.

Congratulations to all three for their new positions.

After 12 years as Dr. Taylor's administrative assistant and 15 years at Yale, Robin Vollono has decided to retire. Hear from supervisors, a colleague, and Robin herself on takeaways, impact, and why we may not need to tear up just yet.

Read on.

• Chaarushi Ahuja, MD, will stay in New Haven as she has matched with Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Yale for next summer.
• Emily Chang, MD, matched with the University of California San Francisco for a Gyn Oncology fellowship.
• Jasmin Mahabamunuge, MD, matched with Brown University for a fellowship in REI.
• Sarah Wang, MD, matched with Cornell University - New York Presbyterian Hospital for a fellowship in REI.

Kudos!

Aliaksandr [Alex] Kishchanka, MD, was named program manager for the Yale University Reproductive Sciences [YURS] Biobank in early July after Jane O’Bryan, who served as the Biobank's leader for many years, left Yale to pursue a residency in Ob/Gyn at the University of Southern California.

Kishchanka received his medical degree from Belarusian State Medical University in 2020 and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at its affiliated hospital in 2021. New investigator inquiries and other questions can be sent directly to him (aliaksandr.kishchanka@yale.edu). You may see Kishchanka and research associate Samantha [Sam] Girasulo approaching patients during Labor and Birth and pre-operatively for gynecologic cases in the main ORs.

Faculty, residents, and staff recently participated in the Yale Ob/Gyn Annual DEI Retreat. Attendees both listened to best practices from guest speakers and engaged in practical activities fostering intradepartmental dialogue and psychological safety.

Scroll through this visual recap.

Hear from a medical student and our faculty mentors on why this eight-week program is a win-win-win for excitement, accessibility, and project progress.

What is Vot-ER?

• Vot-ER is a nonpartisan, health professional-driven organization working to integrate civic engagement into health care.
• They have supported over 700 hospitals, clinics, and other organizations to help more than 100,000 Americans prepare to vote.

What is a Vot-ER Badge?

• The Vot-ER Badge is a fast, nonpartisan, HIPAA-compliant badge backer to impact your patient’s health beyond their medical care.
• Health care professionals can wear their free badge backer, ask about voter registration, and have patients scan the QR code to check that they are registered to vote at their current address.
• Around major election dates, Vot-ER resources also help patients get their mail-in ballots or find out where to vote.

How can you start helping your patients get ready to vote today?

Part of health is civic health, and you can help your patients have their voices heard in the nation and their communities by ordering a Vot-ER Badge.

Nov. 14 [Thursday], 7 p.m. - Film screening of "Trans Dudes with Lady Cancer"

Nov. 15 [Friday], 11 a.m.-Noon - Panel discussion with film director, Cancer Center colleague, Dr. Ash Alpert, and others

Hugh Taylor, MD, was the recipient of this year's prestigious award and was specially honored at the recent annual ASRM Scientific Congress & Expo in Denver.

Elena Ratner, MD, MBA, received this year's Leffell Prize, which recognizes a Yale Medicine faculty member who best exemplifies clinical expertise, a commitment to teaching, and the highest standards of care and compassion for patients.

Read more.

Nina Stachenfeld, PhD, was awarded at this year's American Physiological Society meeting.

The honor recognizes an "eminent research scholar who has made meritorious contributions to the areas of environmental, exercise, thermal, or applied physiology, is an outstanding public speaker, and has contributed as a collegial citizen of the EEP and/or scientific community."

Last week at the ASRM Conference, Cihan Halicigil, PhD, MSc, Emre Seli, MD, and Stephanie Nichols-Burns, PhD, MS, accepted the prestigious Fairfax EggBank [FEB] Blast Award on Yale Fertility Center's behalf. It's the second year in a row the IVF laboratory team has been recognized for outstanding blast conversion rates.

"An incredible achievement ... setting us apart as leaders in the field," says Halicigil.

This year's Albert McKern Scholar Awards go to:

• Liubin Yang, MD, PhD, for her research on "Targeted Gene Therapy for Fragile X-associated Premature Ovarian Insufficiency"
• Yingqun Huang, MD, PhD, for "Developing Novel Therapeutics for Endometriosis"
• and Oluwatosin Adeyemo, MD, MPH, for "A Pilot Study of Self-measured Blood Pressure and Active Tele-Monitoring in Pregnant Patients with Pre-existing Hypertension on Antihypertensive Medication"

Paul Titus Fellowship

• Molly McAdow, MD, PhD, was the recipient for "Deciphering the Role of Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 2 in the Placenta"

Oz Harmanli, MD, received the "Best Reviewer of the Year 2023 " award from the Journal of Urology. Also, as of September, he has become assistant editor for the Urogynecology Journal, the official journal of urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery.

Nancy Ringel, MD, MS, was named one of the recipients of this year's Yale Center for Clinical Investigation [YCCI] Junior Faculty Awards.

YCCI awards early-career researchers with added support as they build their practice.

View the complete list of 2024 scholars awarded.

NAM recently selected Lin [who has a secondary appointment with Yale Ob/Gyn] to be a part of the academy “for making key contributions to the validation of two hallmark stem cell theories..." Learn more.

Several Yale Ob/Gyn residents showcased their work to colleagues and mentors at the 12th Annual State of Connecticut Obstetrics and Gynecology Residents' Research Day.

A special shoutout to Grace Jarmoc, MD, who won best oral presentation.

View our photo recap and rundown of the day's events.

Elena Ratner, MD, MBA, was the featured presenter at the 3rd annual Schwartz Endowment Lecture sponsored by an endowment to honor Peter E. Schwartz, MD.

Dr. Ratner spoke on the "Novel and Personalized Approach for Women with Gynecologic Cancer."

"We do amazing things as a division because of Dr. Schwartz," Ratner said.

Yale Ob/Gyn faculty were invited to present at the recent Yale Cancer Center and Yale New Haven Health "Preserving Hope" conference, which focused on fertility care for patients with cancer and hematological disorders.

View more details and photos.

Mary Jane Minkin, MD, clinical professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, recently presented on how the program she co-founded helps women who are experiencing sexual dysfunction after cancer. It was all part of an ongoing Yale Cancer Center webinar series.

View the full recording.

Belated congratulations to Nancy Ringel, MD, and her husband, Tyler, on the birth of their son, Paden [pronounced “PAY-den”], who is now six months old.