Leaders in Action

HTCN Co-Lead and Associate Professor of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Liang leads the HTCN Seed Endowment Fellowship Committee to enhance educational activities for survivors of human trafficking and students interested in in-depth learning of global and domestic human trafficking. As a clinician with dual appointments in the Department of Emergency Medicine and Division of Infectious Diseases, Dr. Liang is a proponent of social justice work in healthcare settings and is interested in improving healthcare for vulnerable populations, including individuals with experience of human trafficking.  Dr Liang’s primary research interests include trauma-related infections, orthopedic infections, device-associated infections, and management of infectious diseases and infection prevention in emergency care settings.

Dr. Andrea J. Nichols is Professor of Sociology at STLCC Forest Park and Lecturer of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. Her practitioner-centered research examines victim advocacy and community-based responses, as well as social work and criminal justice practices with survivors. She regularly teaches the course “Sex Trafficking” and is the author and coauthor of numerous books and articles in the area of sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. She is the author of Sex Trafficking in the United States: Theory Research Policy and Practice, and coauthor of Social Work Practice with Survivors of Sex Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation.

Marilen Pitler is the VP of Advocacy of the National Council of Jewish Women St. Louis (NCJWSTL) and past Co-Chair of their Committee on Human Trafficking. She has served on the board of NCJWSTL for six years, chairing and co-chairing several other committees including the Racial Justice Committee, the Legislative Reception in 2022, and the Celebrating Women Committee. Marilen became interested in combatting human trafficking after attending a lunch and learn at NCJWSTL on Human Trafficking in 2014 and shortly after joined the NCJWSTL Human Trafficking Task Force. In 2015, she co-chaired a day long human trafficking conference that over 125 professionals attended. She has been involved in this work ever since.

HTCN Lead and Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Rumi Kato Price’s focus in human trafficking is on quantifying the risk and prevalence of human trafficking as well as policy related to trafficking in persons. She is currently engaged in multiple international trafficking-in-persons projects.

Dr. Rebecca Sarabia is a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner working in the OB/GYN clinic at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Her primary research focus is sex trafficking and sexual exploitation.

Dr. Annamaria Szakonyi is an assistant professor at Saint Louis University working at the intersection of technology, policy and society. Her passion is in the application of technology, data and policy to combat human trafficking and the exploitation of women and children.  She received Saint Louis University’s inaugural Geospatial Research and Innovation Award for her research using geospatial methods and machine learning to study human trafficking. She’s published multiple peer-reviewed articles and a book chapter related to human trafficking, data science, cybersecurity, online identity theft, and diversity and inclusion in technology. She’s a technology mentor and women in tech advocate on a mission to increase the presence of women and underrepresented groups in technology.  She has over 15 years’ experience in the IT and innovation sector in various technical and leadership positions.

John Viviano is an adjunct instructor at Washington University’s Olin Business School. He is the co-founder and partner of Evidentia Learning, an EdTech that provides high quality, accredited e-learning modules to a global learning community of more than 500 institutions and 6,000 medical professionals committed to serving victims of child abuse, neglect, and human trafficking. In his community, John has been a CASA volunteer for more than 12 years and serves on the board of Franklin County CASA.

Dr. Edmond is a faculty affiliate with the Center for Violence and Injury Prevention, with research focused on violence against women, with a specific interest in testing trauma-focused interventions for survivors of childhood sexual abuse, sexual assault, and intimate partner violence.

Dr. Brian Froelke is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Whitney Howland, LMSW is a clinical research coordinator at Washington University School of Medicine and provides administrative support to HTCN. For six years, she provided direct services to individuals experiencing human trafficking. For four of those years, she managed a federally funded anti-trafficking in persons program including the co-facilitation of the Eastern District of Missouri Human Trafficking Task Force.  She is a former member of the Missouri Supreme Court’s Combatting Human Trafficking and Domestic Violence Commission and participated in Freedom Network USA, the largest anti-trafficking coalition in the USA. Her work often focused on populations commonly forgotten in the public discourse around human trafficking who experience increased barriers to accessing services, including men and boys, foreign-born individuals, and individuals who experienced labor trafficking.

Dr. Edmond is a faculty affiliate with the Center for Violence and Injury Prevention, with research focused on violence against women, with a specific interest in testing trauma-focused interventions for survivors of childhood sexual abuse, sexual assault, and intimate partner violence.

Dr. Andrea J. Nichols is Professor of Sociology at STLCC Forest Park and Lecturer of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. Her practitioner-centered research examines victim advocacy and community-based responses, as well as social work and criminal justice practices with survivors. She regularly teaches the course “Sex Trafficking” and is the author and coauthor of numerous books and articles in the area of sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. She is the author of Sex Trafficking in the United States: Theory Research Policy and Practice, and coauthor of Social Work Practice with Survivors of Sex Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation.

HTCN Lead and Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Rumi Kato Price’s focus in human trafficking is on quantifying the risk and prevalence of human trafficking as well as policy related to trafficking in persons. She is currently engaged in multiple international trafficking-in-persons projects.

Dr. Kathleen Thimsen is an Assistant Professor at Barnes Jewish College Goldfarb School of Nursing. Her clinical practice and research is focused on vulnerable populations, health care disparities, and all forms of interpersonal violence.