c.obrien@wustl.edu
Professor O’Brien is passionate about developing translational optical technologies that can improve women’s health care. The O’Brien lab will develop optical tools that tackle important challenges spanning maternal health, reproductive cancers, and women’s global health, using optical spectroscopy, optical imaging and simulation techniques that can be translated to impact patient care.
spitznaglet@wustl.edu
Spitznagle has worked in the health-care system ever since earning her bachelor’s degree in physical therapy in 1986 at Marquette University in Milwaukee and heading back home to St. Louis to launch her career, but there have been a few life-changing twists and turns along the way. She has evolved into an advocate for women with pelvic floor dysfunction, which refers to the inability to control the pelvic-area muscles that control bowel and bladder movements. Her expertise has led her to Africa, where she helps women who have had difficult births.
walll@wustl.edu
Wall is particularly interested in the social and clinical aspects of reproductive health problems in developing countries and has been actively involved in a variety of clinical projects in Ethiopia, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, and Niger. At present he is working with the College of Health Sciences at Mekelle University in northern Ethiopia on a variety of clinical projects involving utero-vaginal prolapse, urinary incontinence, obstetric fistula, gestational trophoblastic disease, and other women’s health concerns. He is working with the university to improve residency training in obstetrics and gynecology, as well as to develop a multi-center collaborative fellowship training program in urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery.