DAVID CHELMOW, MD is the Leo J Dunn Professor and Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. His clinical interests include health care for underserved women, well-woman care, normal obstetrics, cancer screening and prevention, and gynecologic care of women living with HIV. He is the Immediate Past President of the Society for Academic Specialists in General Obstetrics and Gynecology (SASGOG). He is a member of the Board of Directors for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG), the American Society of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP), and the Council of University Chairs of Obstetrics and Gynecology (CUCOG). He is the Chair of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) Committee on Practice Bulletins - Gynecology. He is Editor in Chief of the Medscape Reference Obstetrics and Gynecology Textbook and the Exxcellence Foundation/SASGOG Pearls of Exxcellence.
C. WILLIAM DABNEY, DDS is an orthodontic specialist in Midlothian, Virginia. He has been in private practice since 1984. Dr. Dabney received his Bachelor of Science from Hampden-Sydney College (magna cum laude) and his Doctorate of Dental Surgery from the Medical College of Virginia. He completed his orthodontic residency at Fairleigh Dickinson University. He is a member of the American Association of Orthodontists, the Virginia Association of Orthodontists (former president), the American Dental Association, and the Virginia Dental Association. He has also been elected as a Fellow in the World Federation of Orthodontists. Dr. Dabney currently volunteers and serves as the Virginia director for the Smiles Change Lives program, an orthodontic nonprofit organization dedicated to helping kids from low-income families receive braces. Away from the office, Dr. Dabney enjoys cooking, playing golf, traveling, and spending time with his family.
ROBIN L. FOSTER, M.D., Division Chairman of Pediatric Emergency Services, Director of the Child Protection Team, Associate Chairman of Emergency Medicine, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics. She is honored for her work in forming Richmond’s first Child Advocacy Center in partnership with Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) of Greater Richmond. The Child Advocacy Center coordinates activities across agencies to improve training for professionals in positions to defend and protect children in legal and social service interventions. Dr. Foster is also a founding member of Bridging the Gap, which uses adolescent hospital visits as a starting point for increased education, communication and engagement for violence prevention. Along with this work, she is an active leader of Reach Out and Read as well as Richmond Midnight Basketball League—both of which aim to help children and adolescents.
LARRY GILSTRAP, M.D. is the Emma Sue Hightower Professor and Chair of the Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences Department at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He also serves as Director of the Women’s Health Initiative at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston and has been on the faculty of the University of Texas for almost 20 years. He is the immediate past Executive Director of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Gilstrap’s work has significantly impacted the practice of maternal fetal medicine. He has published extensively and has helped to modernize the management of labor, operative vaginal deliveries, obstetrical infections, and fetal/newborn acid-base assessment.
KATE PRICE, MA, PhD candidate, University of Massachusetts Boston, is a survivor of child sex trafficking and pornography. A story of unparalleled grit and determination, Kate's journey sheds light on the complex crisis of sex trafficking and provides hope for healing. A graduate of Lesley University in Cambridge, MA and Simmons College in Boston, Kate's research work has informed national child sex trafficking policy and programming. Kate is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Her working paper, "Longing to Belong: Relational Risks and Resilience of Commercially Sexually Exploited Children in the U.S.," was recently published by the Wellesley Centers for Women, a research and action institute at Wellesley College. Kate has presented at numerous colleges, universities, and organizations. She serves on the advisory boards of ECPAT-USA (End Child Prostitution and Trafficking - USA) and Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT). Kate and her husband live in Massachusetts and are foster parents with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.
BRUCE RUBIN, MD is the Jessie Ball duPont Distinguished Professor and Chair of Pediatrics at Virginia Commonwealth University and Physician in Chief of the Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU. He is also Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Physiology and Biophysics at VCU and holds an adjunct appointment in the School of Business. As a Rhodes Scholar, he trained in Biomedical Engineering at Oxford University and then did his fellowship in Pediatric Respirology at Sick Kids in Toronto. He holds an MD and Master's in Engineering degrees from Tulane and an MBA degree from Wake Forest University Babcock School of Business. He is a member of Board of the Virginia March of Dimes, The Virginia Board of Health Professionals, The Math-Science Innovation Center, The Center for Communication and Health, The American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Respiratory Care Foundation.
HOLLY A. SMITH, Human Trafficking Response Program Director, Dignity Health System, is a survivor of child sex trafficking and an advocate against all forms of human trafficking and child exploitation. She is requested on a regular basis to provide testimony and input to law enforcement, policymakers, health and social service providers, community organizations, and journalists. Her passion lies in prevention, education, and advocacy for victims and survivors. In her nonfiction book, Walking Prey, Holly shares her personal story and exposes child sex trafficking in America. Holly earned a bachelor's degree in biology with a minor in writing from the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey (now Stockton University). She recently moved from Chesterfield, Virginia to Sacramento, California to Direct the Human Trafficking Initiative for Dignity Health Care System. She lives with her husband, Ben, and their adopted Jack Russell, Jackie.
ROBERT VEREECKE S.J. is a member of the North East Province of the Society of Jesus. He is Pastor of St Francis Xavier Parish in New York City. Fr. Bob was born in Jamaica NY in 1948, the third of five sons of Dorothy and Richard VerEecke. He attended Regis High School in Manhattan where he encountered the Jesuits and decided to enter the Society after graduation. For his regency he returned to Regis where he taught Performing Arts, music, dance and theater. He did his theology studies at Weston Jesuit in Cambridge, Ma. After ordination in 1978, he began working for Boston College as a campus minister and was soon after named Jesuit Artist-in-Residence. In 1989 he was appointed pastor of St Ignatius Church adjacent to the BC campus and was pastor there for 27 years Father VerEecke (aka Father Bob) is well-known for his work in the integration of dance and religious expression. He has created many dance works for stage and sanctuary which can be viewed on his dance company’s website. blde.org (Boston Liturgical Dance Ensemble). His most recent work is a collaboration with Jesuit Videographer Jeremy Zipple. For the Greater Glory of God, a dance/theater piece inspired by the Spiritual Exercises available for viewing on the blde.org website.
