Focus on Fibroids Series: Tools to Navigate Optimal Care

Nkem Osian, MPH

Nkem is a Public Health Analyst in the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy at the United States Department of Health and Human Services where she analyzes health programs in rural communities. In this role, she ensures that rural communities have access to quality treatment and care.

In addition, she is a patient advocate and serves as the Director of Partnerships for an organization that is near and dear to her heart, The White Dress Project (WDP). The WDP is an organization focused on raising national awareness about the uterine fibroid epidemic and filling in the gaps in care, education, and research. Nkem struggles with fibroids and shares her story to help break down the walls of silence around this common gynecological condition.

James Segars, MD

Dr. Segars is the Howard and Georgeanna Seegar Jones Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics and Director, Division of Women’s Health Research at Johns Hopkins. A major focus of his research for the past 20 years has explored the molecular mechanisms responsible for reproductive diseases, including uterine fibroids, endometriosis, PCOS, and infertility. He attended Duke University and Duke University School of Medicine with a National Health Service Corps Scholarship (NHSC). After an internship in surgery at the University of Virginia, he served for 2 years in the NHSC in foothills of rural Georgia doing general practice before completing a residency in OB/GYN at Vanderbilt. Following a fellowship Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at Vanderbilt, a Reproductive Scientist Development Program (RSDP) award supported a 3-year post-doctoral training in the intramural program at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at NIH. Dr. Segars worked at NIH and Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda National Naval Medical Center for 20 years before moving to Johns Hopkins in 2015. During his time at NIH, Dr. Segars served as Fellowship Program Director of Reproductive Endocrinology and the Medical Director for the Walter Reed Program of Assisted Reproduction. At Johns Hopkins, he leads a Division that performs clinical and translational research studies of fibroids, endometriosis and PCOS. His research on fibroids has focused on the fundamental mechanisms of fibroid growth and non-surgical treatments for fibroids. He has been active in graduate medical education and served as member and Director of the Reproductive Endocrinology Division at the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology.  Dr. Segars has served on boards of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Society for Reproductive Investigation, and the American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society. Dr. Segars has published over 200 research papers and serves on several editorial boards.

Kedra Wallace, PhD

Kedra Wallace, PhD, is an associate professor in the University of Mississippi Medical Center Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She holds a joint appointment in the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomical Sciences, where she also serves as an associate professor. Her areas of research include uterine fibroids, high-risk pregnancy, and anxiety and depression in women. She currently serves as Director of Research within the Obstetrics and Gynecology department and Program Director for the Masters of Science in Clinical Investigation Graduate program at her University.