Principal Investigators
Emily Miller’s professional training is as an obstetrician and maternal-fetal medicine physician. She has an expertise in obstetric and perinatal outcomes related to mental health conditions. She serves on the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist’s “Maternal Mental Health Expert Work Group” and contributes to national guidelines pertaining to perinatal mental health. Dr. Miller is currently an Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and the Division Director of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Women and Infants Hospital. Her ongoing NIH-funded work focuses on dissemination and implementation of the collaborative care model. Her career goals are to ensure all obstetric clinicians recognize mental health as foundational to maternal health and to guarantee that all pregnant and postpartum people have access to respectful, evidence-based, and equitable mental health care.
Emily Feinberg is a faculty member at the Hassenfeld Child Health Innovation Institute at Brown University and a professor in the Department of Health Services, Policy, and Practice at Brown University School of Public Health. Emily is trained clinically as a pediatric nurse practitioner and she continues to see patients at DotHouse Health, a federally qualified community health center in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood. She has served as core faculty on Boston University’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau-funded Maternal Child Center of Excellence, mentoring MPH and DrPH students. The impetus for her research has come from the disturbing inequities in access to developmental and mental health services that she has witnessed among the children and families with whom she works. The overarching theme of her research has been the redesign of community-based child health systems. She has applied this lens to a number of public health priorities, including maternal depression screening, management, and prevention; autism services; and the integration of child mental health services within pediatric primary care. She leads research that investigates models that engage lay health workers (family navigators, family partners, community health workers) to assure equitable delivery of early diagnostic services to young children with autism and access to behavioral health services more broadly and serves as co-director of Team Up for Children, a foundation-funded initiative to implementation integrated behavioral health care in a network of Massachusetts Federally Qualified Health Centers. Her work has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute for Nursing Research, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the March of Dimes Foundation, and the Health Resources and Services Administration.
Co-Investigators
Michael Silverstein is the director of the Hassenfeld Child Health Innovation Institute and a George Hazard Crocker University Professor of Health Services, Policy, and Practice at Brown University. Prior to joining Brown University in the Fall of 2021, Dr. Silverstein was associate professor of pediatrics, director of the Division of General Academic Pediatrics, and vice chair of research for the Department of Pediatrics at the Boston University School of Medicine. He also worked as a pediatrician at Boston Medical Center, New England’s largest safety net hospital. Since 2016, he has served as a member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Dr. Silverstein’s research focuses on mental health services for children and families. His primary interest is the prevention of depression in at-risk mothers and mothers of vulnerable children.
Ana Sofia Barber de Brito is a Certified Nurse Midwife at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island and a Teaching Associate/Clinical Educator at Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Her work aligns itself with serving marginalized and disenfranchised populations, equitable healthcare practices, reproductive health justice and championing holistic reproductive care for all. Previously, she worked at a Federally Qualified Health Center providing reproductive health care across the spectrum to a high-risk population with various social determinants of health inequities. Ana Sofia was instrumental in piloting and institutionalizing the Centering Pregnancy model, or group prenatal care, at the clinic before the COVID pandemic began and tracking data that confirmed lower preterm birth rates, better health literacy, and empowered health choices in a group of Black and Brown identifying people. Prior to becoming a midwife, Ana Sofia’s focus had been in developing and implementing a social health justice course at Yale across the medical/nursing educational programs with the goal of integrating the course and subject matter within national nursing and medical school education. She is currently in pursuit of a research based academic midwifery position with a continued emphasis on community based clinical research with implications in lowering maternal morbidity and mortality, especially for disenfranchised populations.
L.G. Ward, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and a Research Scientist at the Center for Preventive and Behavioral Medicine at The Miriam Hospital. Dr. Ward’s program of research focuses on the effects of stress and trauma on perinatal health as well as strategies to reduce risk and promote well-being during the perinatal period, including trauma-informed obstetric care. Dr. Ward leads the STAR-OB Trauma Informed Obstetric Care initiative.
Project Management
Andrea Chu is the Director of Programs and Operations at the Hassenfeld Child Health Innovation Institute. She is the project manager of COMPASS+. She has extensive experience as a project coordinator and has managed complex portfolios of federally-funded community-based research projects. As a Latina woman, she is drawn to the intersectionality between culture and mental health service use. Her research interests include disparities in behavioral health outcomes for low-income children, screening and early detection of autism, and the impact of state-level policies on the provision of services for children with developmental delays. Andrea received her BA in Psychology and Sociology from Boston University and her Masters in Public Health from Boston University School of Public Health.
Elisa Kim is a Master's of Public Health student at Brown University and a trained doula, focusing on mindfulness and its application for trauma-informed care within obstetric settings. She has worked as a research assistant for the Ward Lab (STAR-OB Initiative) since 2020. She hopes to make an impact on reproductive justice and the mental health world through holistic care and plans to pursue an MD in the near future.
Data Team
Howard Cabral is Professor of Biostatistics at the Boston University School of Public Health, where he has been on the faculty in the Department of Biostatistics since 1998. He is the founding Director of the Biostatistics and Research Design Program of the Boston University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute. He has over 30 years of teaching, consulting, collaborating, and statistical research experience in a variety of biomedical fields. These include public health, epidemiology, behavioral sciences, health services, and basic physical sciences research and practice. His students have included undergraduates, Master's and doctoral level students in biostatistics and all other public health disciplines, medical sciences and dentistry, biomedical post-doctoral and clinical fellows including many K grant awardees, and faculty seeking additional training in statistical methods and research design. He is a former director of the Biostatistics Graduate Program in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Cabral was the recipient of the Norman A. Scotch Award for Excellence in Teaching for 2017 from the School of Public Health.
Lauren Schlichting is an epidemiologist with experience in statistical analysis, complex data management, database design, and data visualization. Dr. Schlichting's research interests include pregnancy complications, birth defects, perinatal exposures, early childhood development, maternal mental health, and life course epidemiology.
Matthew Scarpaci is a data analyst with experience in clustered and multilevel modelling, spatial data analysis, data harmonization techniques, and database management and development. His primary expertise is in creating and maintaining longitudinal research databases and in modeling statistical outcomes for a variety of study types. Mr. Scarpaci has substantial experience in SAS, R, ArcGIS, and the RedCAP data capture system. His research interests include early childhood health and educational development, chronic disease, and the effect of environmental conditions on child health.
Shreenidhi Sharma is the data manager for the Hassenfeld Institute Child Health Innovation Institute. She earned her MPH from the University of Maryland, Baltimore with a concentration in epidemiology. Her interests are in data management, data analysis, health equity, and improving child and maternal health outcomes in the state of Rhode Island and globally. She has experience in SAS, RedCAP data collection system, and building participant tracking databases.
Practice Facilitation Support
Linda Cabral. As Senior Program Manager for the Care Transformation Collaborative of RI, Linda Cabral has led several high-profile, multi-stakeholder projects, including a state grant to implement Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral and Treatment (SBIRT) in multiple care settings as well as implementing and supporting community health teams to support individuals with complex medical, behavioral and social needs. She currently manages projects advancing health equity, population health and lifting the use of Community Health Workers on multi-disciplinary teams. She enjoys works with various state partners, community-based organizations, and health care leaders to drive transformation efforts and promote integrated care. Ms. Cabral brings over 20 years’ worth of experience in leading multi-disciplinary teams and managing complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives. Prior to coming to CTC-RI, Ms. Cabral was a Senior Project Director at the Center for Health Policy and Research at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where she led a range of program evaluation projects and strategic initiatives on behalf of state health and human services agencies. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Saint Anselm College and a Masters in Management and Health Policy from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.
Liz Cantor is a licensed child clinical psychologist who has consulted with CTC on a variety of integrated behavioral health projects as a subject matter expert and Pediatric IBH practice facilitator. Following a clinical career focused on child evaluation and assessment, she held leadership positions as the Director of two different Outpatient Behavioral Health departments in RI, which included Behavioral Health Integration efforts in primary care settings. Over the years, Dr. Cantor has developed skills in the areas of program growth and expansion; staff engagement, development, and management; financial management; workflow analysis and implementation; hospital system internal coordination; outcome evaluation; and, helping programs achieve clinical excellence. Dr. Cantor received her PhD in Child Clinical Psychology from University of Denver, her CAGS in School Psychology from Gallaudet University, and her undergraduate degree from Brown University.
Care Managers
Dinah Williams is the Lead Care Manager for COMPASS+, where she plays a key role in developing clinical protocols, leading care manager training and support, and providing direct patient care. Before joining the team, she spent seven years as a clinical social worker at Women & Infants Hospital, serving a culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse population during the critical perinatal period.
A dedicated advocate, Dinah is deeply attuned to the unique needs of her patients and mindful of the systemic injustices and implicit biases that can impact care. She prioritizes building meaningful relationships with patients, colleagues, and community resources; cultivating strong support networks; and improving health outcomes. Her expertise includes working with individuals with substance use histories, parents involved with child protective services, and those experiencing interpersonal violence.
Honored to support individuals through pregnancy and postpartum, Dinah recognizes this time as one of profound vulnerability, reflection, growth, and healing. She holds a Master of Social Work (MSW) from Rhode Island College and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, viewing social work as the intersection of art and science.
Clinical Team
Cynthia Battle is a clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychiatry & Human Behavior at Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
She received her bachelors degree from Vassar College, and her masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She initially came to Brown to complete her predoctoral internship and continued her training by pursuing a NIMH postdoctoral fellowship focused on treatment development research. She has served as principal investigator or co-investigator on numerous NIH research grants focused on mood disorders among perinatal women and other populations.
Additional interests include perinatal substance use and anxiety. Her work is based at both Butler and Women & Infants' Hospitals.
Zobeida Diaz is a perinatal psychiatrist in the Center for Women’s Behavioral Health at Women & Infants Hospital. Dr. Diaz received her Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology at the University of Michigan, then a Master’s degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of Wisconsin. She spent 8 years working at several biotechnology companies before going on to obtain her medical degree from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health. She completed her psychiatry residency training at Brown University. Prior to joining the Center for Women’s Behavioral Health, she held a position as staff psychiatrist in the Eating Disorders Program at Aurora Behavioral Health in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her current role includes treating women in the country’s first mother- baby partial hospital program, coordinating treatment with brexanolone, the first FDA-approved medication for postpartum depression, and serving as a medication consultant with the state-wide RI MomsPRN program.
Jessica Pineda received her medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, WI. She is a recent graduate from the Family Medicine/Psychiatry residency at The University of Cincinnati. During her 5-year training experience, she was involved in medical student and resident education as well as work in underserved communities both locally and abroad and served as the chief resident during her final year. Training in dual specialties focused on the importance of integrated care and the interaction of physical and mental health and the importance of physician collaboration in the treatment of all aspect of one’s health. Specific interests include women’s health and how the different stages of life including psychosocial stressors; role transitions and hormonal changes impact both their physical and mental health.
Dr. Pineda is currently working at the Center for Primary Care at Women & Infants Hospital, providing primary care services as well as formal psychiatric consultation to patients of the primary care office. She also works at the Center for Women’s Behavioral Health Center providing outpatient psychiatric services to women planning pregnancy, pregnant and postpartum breast-feeding mothers. Her educational activities include serving as the program director for the Women’s Mental Health Fellowship at Women & Infants Hospital, supervision of family medicine residents at the Family Care Center, and the teaching attending on the psychiatric Consult-Liaison service at Women & Infants Hospital. She volunteers at Clinica Esperanza as a psychiatric consultant, providing mental health care to primary Spanish speaking individuals who are uninsured or under-insured.
Mentees
Makayla Hickmon joined Brown's School of Public Health in the Fall of 2023 with the primary goal to better understand the social determinants leading to maternal and child health disparities within marginalized communities in the United States and worldwide. Upon graduating from Brown, Makayla plans to attend medical school with the long-term goal of becoming a maternal-fetal medicine specialist. Working with Hassenfeld Child Health Innovation Institute and Women and Infants Hospital on COMPASS+, has been an excellent opportunity to learn from great professionals and nourish her passions in maternal and child health, and mental health. In her free time, Makayla loves to spend time with her two dogs, watch documentaries, and enjoy nature.
Ally Turco is a medical student at the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University pursuing an MD, MSc in the Primary Care-Population Medicine Program. She has 5+ years of research experience with a special interest in addressing disparities in maternal mortality through community-led initiatives. Ally is also a certified Doula and looks forward to caring for pregnant people as a future OB/GYN.