Our People

Dr. Ahmed is a physician, demographer and epidemiologist. His research includes reproductive epidemiology, particularly maternal mortality estimation and program evaluation for family planning and maternal and child health care. He is a principal investigator for a multi-country study in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Niger and Nigeria. He also teaches courses on survey sampling methods and on complex survey data analysis. He is a technical advisor to the Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG) for the WHO's global estimation of maternal mortality.

Dr. Bower's research and public health nursing practice is focused on the elimination of racial disparities in maternal and child health. Her research examines the role of racism and respectful maternity care in maternal and child health outcomes. She also studies involvement in maternal, infant, and early childhood home visiting programs and the impact childhood trauma has on involvement. Dr. Bower applies a community-engaged approach to her research that comes from her 18 years of experience practicing as a public health nurse and involvement with the Baltimore City Health Department, the B'More for Healthy Babies Initiative, and the Fetal and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR).

Dr. Creanga is the Program Director for MDMOM. Her research focuses on perinatal quality and safety both domestically and internationally. She is the Associate Director of the International Center for Maternal and Newborn Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and an Associate Faculty at the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality. Dr. Creanga is a member of the Maryland Maternal Mortality Review Committee. She has received numerous professional honors, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from the United States Government, Executive Office of the President.

Dr. Graham's areas of clinical expertise include high-risk pregnancy conditions and fetal heart rate monitoring. He serves as the director of the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellowship Program at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Graham joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 1999. He is a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and a member of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the Society for Gynecologic Investigation. He has served as a reviewer for several medical journals, including the American Journal of Infection Control, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, American Journal of Perinatology and the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Ms. Hobbs is the lead for the severe maternal morbidity surveillance and analytic activities for MDMOM. She is a nurse epidemiologist with experience in the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of maternal and newborn health (MNH) programs in local, national, and international settings. In her most recent role as Provincial Director, Surveillance, Research, and Analytics at Perinatal Services BC in Canada, she led the analysis of MNH indicators and engaged with clinicians and stakeholders for knowledge translation and quality improvement activities. Of relevancy, she co-led the maternal/fetal and newborn morbidity and mortality surveillance activities within the province and nationally as the BC representative with the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada Maternal Mortality Pilot Project. Ms. Hobbs has also worked extensively as a consultant with the WHO, UNICEF, and NGOs in Uganda, Tanzania, and South Sudan.

Ms. Oguntade is the Program Coordinator for MDMOM. Her public health practice is focused on improving maternal and newborn health outcomes in domestic and international settings. Ms. Oguntade's area of expertise is in qualitative research, particularly social behavioral interventions. Ms. Oguntade studies how implementation science can be used to inform successful adaptation, implementation and scale up of evidenced based maternal and newborn health interventions in low resource settings. Ms. Oguntade has conducted public health research in Bangladesh, Ecuador, Ghana, Hong Kong, Jordan, Nigeria, Taiwan and Turkey.

Dr. Warren is a community-public health nurse whose academic work and research at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing focus on reproductive healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa and caring for women who have been affected by female genital cutting. As a certified nurse-midwife, she has cared for refugee and immigrant women in the U.S. and is committed to improving reproductive healthcare in countries of resettlement for women who have been affected by the practice.

Ms. McFadden provides public health leadership in the provision of maternal and child health services and the prevention, control, monitoring, and treatment of infectious diseases, cancer, chronic diseases, and environmental health hazards. She began her public health career as a Health Educator from 2000-2006 for Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington. Ms. McFadden transitioned to MDH in 2006, serving in several roles in the Center for Cancer Prevention and Control, including serving as the Office Director from 2011-2016. She also served as the MDH Maternal and Child Health Bureau Director from 2017-2018.

Ms. Wilburn's 25-year professional experience includes work in an array of family and children services in both residential and community-based settings. From 2004-2016, Ms. Wilburn served as the Program Manager for two evidence-based home visiting programs for pre and post-natal women in Charles County and Baltimore City. Currently, Ms. Wilburn is responsible for ensuring Title V's success in meeting federal programmatic and fiscal requirements at the Maryland Department of Health.

Ms. DiPietro serves as the lead facilitator of several patient safety collaboratives, including those of the Maryland Perinatal Quality Collaborative. Additionally, she serves as the clinical resource, quality expert and lead on many of the Center's initiatives and projects. Ms. DiPietro has more than 35 years of healthcare experience, holding executive, clinical, educational, and administrative nursing positions throughout the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. She is certified in advanced nursing administration through the American Nurses Association credentialing center and she is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Dr. Callaghan-Koru's work is focused on identifying and evaluating approaches for improving access to evidence-based interventions and reducing health disparities for mothers and children in both high- and low-resource settings. Her research utilizes qualitative and quantitative methods and draws from implementation science, social science, epidemiology, and program evaluation disciplines. She previously received funding from the National Institutes of Health to study factors that determine successful implementation of evidence-based practices in obstetric care.

Dr. Koru's research is focused on health informatics which including data analytics, health information privacy and security, home healthcare, and software engineering. He is a member and Fellow of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) and the Editorial Board of the American Medical Directors Association (AMDA). Dr. Koru also served in the Policy Board for Health Information Exchange organized by the Maryland Health Care Commission. At UMBC, he served in Research Council, Academic Planning and Budget Committee, and Faculty Senate.

Ms. Iversen has a professional background in both public health and clinical research and an academic background in social and behavioral interventions in international health. In her most recent position, she conducted peripheral nerve research in plastic surgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She has experience conducting public health research with children and rural communities in Ecuador and Guatemala and has worked with transgender individuals, cancer patients and refugees with complex health needs in Baltimore.