Advisory Board
Sarah Ann Anderson, MD, FAAP
Sarah Ann Anderson, MD, PhD, is a director of medical services and quality improvement at Barnard College in New York and has a specialty in pediatric and adolescent medicine.
Jesus Alberto Benitez, BA, AA
Jesus Alberto Benitez, BA, AA, is a Philosopher and Educator with 10+ years of experience advocating for non-traditional students. He is an Outreach and Recruitment Coordinator at CUNY Fatherhood Academy and is pursuing an MS in TESOL. He also advises the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Aspen Institute, and Kresge Foundation.
Ana Cepin, MD
Ana Cepin, MD, is the Director of Community Women’s Health for the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Cepin also serves as director at New York-Presbyterian Hospital’s Family Planning clinic.
Fajah Ferrer
Fajah Ferrer is a Program Director at Northern Manhattan Perinatal Partnership (NMPP). She manages a number of initiatives between New York Presbyterian Hospital and NMPP, informing program development, executing, and supervising Community Health Workers in addressing the social health needs of their obstetric and pediatric patients.
Sheehan D. Fisher, PhD
Sheehan D. Fisher, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine (Northwestern University) in Chicago. He is also the Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion at The Graduate School. Dr. Fisher’s research and clinical work concerns paternal mental health in the perinatal period.
Blair Hammond, MD
Blair Hammond, MD, is a pediatrician and Assistant Professor in Pediatrics at Mount Sinai in NYC. Dr. Hammond founded the General Pediatrics Faculty Practice. In addition to practicing as a pediatrician, Dr. Hammond is the Co-Founding Director and Director of Medical Education for the Mount Sinai Parenting Center.
Guramrit LeBron
Guramrit LeBron is a birth and postpartum doula at Manhattan Birth and a Certified Lactation Counselor with the Health Children Project. She is also the co-founder of the Bridge Directory, a nationwide referral network composed of professionals of color.
![Headshot of Guramrit Lebron.]()
Sheela Maru, MD, MPH
Dr. Sheela Maru is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Health Systems Design and Global Health and Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is an attending physician at Elmhurst Hospital where she practices as a generalist Obstetrician Gynecologist. Sheela is the Director of the NYC partnership between the Arnhold Institute for Global Health at Mount Sinai and the H+H/Elmhurst Global Health Institute, Queens and Elmhurst Hospitals. Sheela worked closely with community partners to build the HoPE Community Doula Program. In addition, she has been an advisor for the organization Possible, supporting health systems strengthening and implementation science work in rural Nepal for the past decade. Her research is focused on improving healthcare access and quality for women and children in low-resource settings.
Ilana Mazlin, DDS
Ilana Mazlin, DDS, is a pediatric dentist currently enrolled in an MA program in child and adolescent development, focusing on infant and early childhood mental health, from the University of Minnesota's Institute of Child Development. Dr. Mazlin is a board member of The Foundling, a non-profit focusing on child welfare, developmental disabilities, and mental health services for families. In 2020, she established the Bear Scholarship at the University of Pennsylvania to provide financial support to students who are the first in their family to attend college.
Obianuju Obi Berry, MD
Obianuju Obi Berry, MD, is a psychiatrist affiliated with multiple hospitals in the New York City area, including NYU Langone Hospitals and New York-Presbyterian Hospital. She specializes in child and adolescent psychiatry, with expertise in public health, trauma, epidemiology, mood disorders, and anxiety disorders.
![Headshot of Obianuju Obi Berry.]()
Cynthia Osborne, PhD, MA, MPP
Cynthia Osborne, PhD, MA, MPP is a Professor of Early Childhood Education and Policy at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education and Human Development. She founded and is director of the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center. Dr. Osborne’s research focuses on social policy, poverty and inequality, family and child wellbeing, and family demography.
Helena Rutherford, PhD
Helena Rutherford, PhD, is an Associate Professor at Yale School of Medicine's Child Study Center in New Haven and the director of the Before and After Baby Lab (the BABL). Her research examines the neuroplasticity of the parental brain during pregnancy and the postpartum period, employing neuroimaging, behavioral, and physiological approaches.
Daisy Singhla, PhD, CPsych
Daisy Singhla, PhD, CPsych is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto. She also serves as a clinical psychologist/scientist within the Sinai Health System and the Lunenfeld Tanenbaum Research Institute. Dr. Singhla is a senior scientist at the Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute. Her research addresses maternal depression and child development, growth, and health.
Zainab Sulaiman
Zainab ‘Zee’ Sulaiman, is the Center Director for Morgan State University's Center for Maternal and Family Health and a Lecturer in the School of Community and Health Policy. She is also the founder and Principal Consultant at OhLeSe, a full-suite nonprofit consulting + social impact firm dedicated to centering the skills and tools women, children, and communities possess for their own liberation. Zainab holds a Master of Science in Global Mental Health from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Pan-African Studies from Drew University.
