FAMILIES' BRIDGE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Marketing and Communications
Angela Davids has more than 20 years of experience as a content developer and marketing strategist. Her areas of expertise include writing website content for search engine optimization and social media management. Her desire to advocate for women with high-risk pregnancies came from her own experiences with preterm labor and preeclampsia. Angela is the co-author of "Stuck in Bed: The pregnancy bed rest picture book for kids … and moms." In the book she provides guidance and inspiration to mothers, based on the 15 weeks she spent on bed rest while caring for her 2-year-old daughter.
Practical implications of racial disparity for African American women and their premature infants both pre and post-NICU. She creates educational presentations on how each healthcare provider from birth to age six contributes to the future educational success of those born early. Ashley Randolph is a wife and mother to 3 children who were all born premature.
Ashley is most passionate about improving the lives of babies born prematurely in the African-American community and providing support and safety net services for their families. She is the recipient of Presidential Excellence Award for her hard work empowering minority mothers. She is currently Mrs. California United America 2019, and a Labor and delivery Doula.
Derek South is a veteran business executive having spent his entire 35 year career in the trenches building high tech companies. Most recently he is involved with an early stage startup applying artificial intelligence to solve the complex challenges of today's telecommunications infrastructure. His years of experience include: building teams, launching products, raising capital, and interfacing with large global customers provides Families' Bridge with a vast knowledge base. This multi-discipline experience has helped launch Families' Bridge, and turn a dream into reality.
Dr. Suzanne Staebler is an expert clinician, advocate, and nationally recognized leader in the field of neonatal advanced practiced nursing. She has been practicing as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP) since 1992 and has been involved in policy and advocacy since 2007. Dr. Staebler is currently an Associate Professor and Specialty Coordinator for the Neonatal NP program at Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. She maintains her clinical practice as an NNP in Atlanta and continues her work in health policy as a policy advisor with the Alliance for Patient Access (AfPA) and the National Coalition for Infant Health (NCfIH).She was the APRN Director for the Georgia Nurses Association from Oct 2014-2017. Suzanne continues her represent the neonatal population on the APRN Consensus Group (LACE) Task Force. She currently serves as President of the Board of Directors for the National Certification Corporation (NCC), the national certification board for neonatal and women's health nurse practitioners.
Dr. Staebler has demonstrated leadership in the policy/advocacy arena. She was the lead author on a white paper discussing the future of neonatal advanced practice nursing, which has served to inform all stakeholders on issues related the high-risk maternal/infant care. Her leadership roles within the National Association of NNPs (NANNP) were pivotal to ongoing discussions centered on developing a medical home model for premature infants. Informed by her doctoral work on designing regionalized care systems for high-risk mothers and neonates and the policy implications of regionalized care delivery models, Dr. Staebler drew on her wealth of practical experience to educate and support the expanded role of the NNP in health care delivery of this vulnerable patient population. Her impact in the policy and advocacy arena and her dedication to educating nurses about advocacy and policy has been far reaching. She has received several awards for this work including the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of Neonatal Nurses (2010), the Georgia Nurse Practitioner Advocate of the Year award from the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (2015), the NNP Excellence Award from NANNP (2015), the Academic Nurse Of the Year award from the Georgia March of Dimes (2016) and the Outstanding Policy Leader Award from the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties in 2018.
Dr. Staebler's passion for policy and advocacy, with a focus on utilizing evidence to drive policy decisions and monitoring policy outcomes has led to her being awarded several prestigious policy fellowships including Faculty Policy Intensive Fellow from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) and the inaugural Georgia Nursing Health Policy Fellowship with the Georgia Health Policy Center at Georgia State University.
Job Titles:
- Medical Director Newborn Services
Dr. Perez, board certified in pediatrics and neonatal-perinatal medicine, received his medical degree from the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru. He completed his residency in pediatrics at the State University of New York at Brooklyn, Children's Medical Center and his neonatal-perinatal fellowship training at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. In 2002 and 2005, he received the American Medical Association Physician Recognition Award in Continuing Medical Education.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor at Texas Woman 's University
Dr. Behr is currently an Assistant Professor at Texas Woman's University on the Houston, Texas campus where she teaches maternal-newborn nursing in the undergraduate program. She has over 25 years of neonatal and pediatric nursing experience in a variety of roles including staff nurse, nurse educator, nurse manager, and clinical nurse specialist. She has worked in all levels of newborn care including units in community hospitals as well as Magnet-designated children's hospitals, including Riley Hospital for Children, St. Vincent Women's Hospital, and Peyton Manning Children's Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana, Norton Suburban Hospital and Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, and Memorial Hermann Greater Heights and HCA Healthcare Houston West in Houston, TX. No matter her role, she has always strived to improve the parent experience in the neonatal intensive care unit. She was a Robert Wood Johnson Future of Nursing Scholar through a partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston during her PhD program.
Kathleen Ellis received her BSN and MSN from Baylor University and her PhD from the University of Missouri. She has over 25 years of nursing experience including NICU, education, and research. She is currently an assistant professor at Texas Woman's University in Houston, Texas. Her research interests focus on improving care and support for neonatal families and investigating the relationships that are formed between nurses and families. She was named to the DFW Top 100 Nurses in 2019 and has presented research nationally and internationally.
Mary Jane Winkenhofer, RN Volunteer: Educator and Preemie Parent Advocate Mary Jane graduated from the University of Texas School of Nursing, May 2002 and has been a NICU IV nurse for 17 years. Mary Jane has been caring for NICU infants and Antepartum mothers by providing lactation educational support. Mary Jane received the DFW Great 100 Nurses Award in 2009.
Job Titles:
- Program Manager for the Maternal Fetal Institute at Medical City Dallas
Michele currently serves as the Program Manager for the Maternal Fetal Institute at Medical City Dallas, a program dedicated to the care of mothers facing a high-risk pregnancy or fetal condition. She is passionate about providing guidance and resources to families facing a difficult pregnancy and birth.
Michele has 30 years of nursing experience and has worked with many families over the years as a NICU and Pediatric nurse helping them through challenging times. She is excited about the support offered by Families' Bridge, and the all that it offers families before and during their baby's NICU stay.
Michele graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and from Texas Woman's University with a Masters of Business Administration. She is a Certified Pediatric Nurse and also holds an advanced certification as a Nurse Executive.
Job Titles:
- DPT, CNT / Director of Neonatal PT / OT Outreach
- DPT, CNT / Volunteer: Director of Neonatal PT / OT Outreach
Neela received her B.S. of Biology from The Pennsylvania State University and her Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire. She brings over 11 years of experience in rehabilitative services with the past 4 years within the NICU setting. Her role in the NICU includes maximizing developmental outcomes, supporting infant mental health and facilitating family interaction through evaluation and treatment of infants in the NICU with a variety of diagnoses which may affect the following systems: family and psychosocial, neurodevelopmental, neuromotor, neurobehavioral, musculoskeletal, sensory, oral motor and feeding/swallowing.
Neela has a passion for developmental care and is the founder and co-chair of the Neuroprotective Care Committee at Mount Carmel East Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. She has been a proud member of the National Association of Neonatal Therapists since 2017. Neela was awarded the Black Graduate Student Association Achievement of Academic Excellence in 2002.
Job Titles:
- RNC - NIC / Founder & President
Rebecca South received her BSN from Baylor University and has been a NICU nurse for over 27 years and worked in the Level IV NICU at Texas Health Presbyterian Plano for 17 years. Rebecca is nationally certified as a Neonatal Intensive Care RN through NCC. Rebecca has been actively involved in the National Association of Neonatal Nurse for years, serving as the Project Manager for Baby Steps to Home: Discharge Pathway 2013 and 2017, serving on the NANN Board of Directors as Staff Nurse Director-at-Large and she was founding member and President for NANN's Collin County Texas Area Chapter (CCTANN) in 2017. She received the Robyn Main Excellence for Clinical Practice award in 2016 and in 2019, she received the Small Grant Award from NANN. In addition, Rebecca is the Founder of the non-profit program: Families' Bridge to Caring Hands®, a nurse-driven program to decrease stress/anxiety in antepartum & NICU parents. Rebecca is an active member of other organizations including National Coalition of Infant Health (NCfIH).
Job Titles:
- RNC - NIC, BSN, MBA / Volunteer
Susan Goddard received her BSN from Adelphi University and her MBA from National University. She brings over 40 years of nursing experience in NICU, Delivery Team and Pediatric Peri-operative Nursing to the Families Bridge team including, certification in Evidence Based Practice from Texas Christian University. Fulfilling an integral role as a member of the NICU High Risk Delivery Team, Susan met with and helped prepare, antepartum families for a potential NICU delivery.
Susan's career experience includes Management of a NICU/Nursery, Clinical Educator and Assistant VP of Nursing with a national healthcare recruitment company. Throughout her career she has been an innovator helping to integrate and teach new techniques for the NICU including: development of a Peri-Operative preparation tool for staff RN's, project leader-development of E.H.R. (EPIC) for 7 system NICU's.
As the hospital's first Level VI Advanced Program Nurse and for her work on EHR development, she was nominated for her systems Magnet RN of the Year 2014. In 2010 she was recognized as a DFW Top 100 Nurses.
Job Titles:
- Neonatal Nurse Practitioner
Tracey Robertson Bell is a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner with over 20 years of experience. Currently Dr Bell practices in academia and clinical practice. She is a Senior Clinical Instructor at Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and Clinical Assistant Professor at School of Nursing at East Carolina University. In addition, she maintains a clinical practice as a NNP in Atlanta, GA and Raleigh, NC.
Prior to becoming a NNP, Dr Bell worked as a nurse in antepartum and postpartum units. During this time, she was able to work with mothers spending an extended period of time in the hospital attempting to maintain their pregnancy to provide the best outcomes for their babies. This experience allowed her opportunity to witness how this time affected the mothers and to discover ways in which the nurses/providers could impact it negatively or positively. After becoming an NNP, Dr Bell continued to foster relationships with many of the families who have spent extended time in the NICU and to continue to explore ways to support the families emotionally.
Dr Bell graduated from the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill with her Master's of Science in Nursing and from Duke University with her Doctor of Nursing Practice.
Job Titles:
- IBCLC, LCCE / Volunteer: Education
Veronica Schaedler has 35 years experience in Women's and Children's services, and has presented breastfeeding workshops and other maternal/child educational programs to hospital and community-based health professionals throughout the United States since 2002. She holds a BSN from Grand Canyon University and an RN from Beth Israel School of Nursing. Veronica implemented the Lactation Services Program at a Texas Hospital in 1997, and has supervised the program since its inception, including inpatient and outpatient services, and a resource store for nursing mothers.