News on Preconception Health and Health Care

Danielle Broussard, PhD, MPH holds a master of public health degree from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and a doctor of philosophy degree in epidemiology from the University of Miami, which she completed in 2006. Prior to earning her doctoral degree, Dr. Broussard worked for 5 years as a research coordinator in the Tulane Xavier National Center of Excellence in Women's Health where her research focus was on chronic conditions among women. She also completed a Maternal and Child Public Health Post Doctoral Research Fellowship at the Women's Center where her focus shifted to maternal and child health. In 2007, she entered Class V of the CDC/CSTE Applied Epidemiology Fellowship Training Program. As a CSTE Fellow she trained in maternal and child health under the mentorship of Drs. Bill Sappenfield and Dave Goodman at the Florida Department of Health where her focus was on preconception healthand racial disparities associated with infant sleeping behaviors.

Violanda Grigorescu, MD, MSPH is an Obstetrician Gynecologist by training with MD degree from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, Romania and many years of clinical experience. She also holds a Masters of Science in Public Health (MSPH) degree earned from the University of Louisville, School of Medicine. Her career in public health started in 1999 as a Maternal and Child Health (MCH) epidemiologist at the Jefferson County Health Department in Kentucky. In 2002 she became a senior MCH epidemiologist fellow with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and she was assigned to work with the Michigan Department of Public Health (MDCH). In 2004 she accepted the MCH epi manager position at MDCH and in 2006 she became Director of Division of Genomics, Perinatal Health and Chronic Disease Epidemiology. Dr. Grigorescu leads (PI and Co-PI) different grants/projects and continues to be active with national organizations (i.e., CDC, CSTE) and academia. She is Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Michigan State University and member of the Preventive Medicine Residency Advisory Committee, University of Michigan. She has many presentations at the local, state and national conferences/meetings and publications in peer review journals.

William M. Sappenfield, MD, MPH is the State MCH Epidemiologist and Director of the MCH Practice and Analysis Unit, Division of Fmaily Health Services, Florida Department of Health.

As both a pediatrician and an epidemiologist, Dr. Bill Sappenfield has more than 25 years of experience in epidemiological research and practice at a local, state and national level in maternal and child health. Most of Dr. Sappenfield's career has been as a CDC epidemiologist working with state and local public health agencies to enhance their capacity to use epidemiology to improve the health of the women and children they serve. He served four years as Team Leader of CDC's MCH Epidemiology Program where he was directly responsible for the national effort. In his current position with the Florida Department of Health, he leads the Department's MCH epidemiology efforts including directing an office of six epidemiologists; partnering with programs and epidemiologists across the Department; collaborating with state agencies, universities and other organizations; and assisting County Health Departments and community coalitions.