Forum Speakers
Program Moderator -- Jennet Robinson
Alterman Jennet Robinson Alterman is a native of Charleston and currently serves as the Executive Director of the Center for Women. She began her career as a television news reporter and anchor for WCSC-TV. In 1977, she went to Afghanistan as a Peace Corps Volunteer working in maternal health education. Upon her return to the U.S., she worked as a Producer Director of the Health Communications Network at MUSC and then went on to serve as Lt. Governor Nancy Stevenson’s Press Secretary. She subsequently held management positions with the State Budget and Control Board until her appointment as Country Director of the Peace Corps program in Swaziland. In 2001, she accepted the position with the Center for Women. Mrs. Alterman serves on the Board of Directors of the Footlight Players and the Ashley Hall Advisory Committee.
Keynote Speaker -- Yvonne T. Green, MSN, CNM, RN
Yvonne T. Green, MSN, CNM, RN, is the Associate Director for Women’s Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Ms. Green plays an essential and pivotal role in leading and coordinating CDC’s efforts in the public health arena involving women’s health issues. Ms. Green graduated from Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana, and received her Masters of Science degree in Nursing from Yale University. She is also a certified nurse midwife. Ms. Green began her career with CDC in 1984 as a Clinical Services Consultant and a Clinical Training Coordinator in the National Center for Prevention Services, Division of Sexually Transmitted Diseases. From 1989 to 1999, she worked in the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Reproductive Health (DRH), as the Assistant Branch Chief, Women’s Health and Fertility Branch; the Acting Deputy Director, Office of the Director; and, the Assistant Director for Health Policy and Communication. Prior to joining CDC, Ms. Green served as an instructor at Emory University’s Regional Training Center for Family Planning in Atlanta, Georgia; and in a variety of other capacities in public and private hospitals, university-affiliated medical centers, and public health departments in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Connecticut, California, Missouri, and Georgia.
Rodney A. Appell, MD, FACS
Dr. Appell is the F. Brantley Scott Chair in Urology and Professor of Urology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Prior to accepting that position, he was the head of the Section of Voiding Dysfunction and Female Urology in the Department of Urology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio. He received his BA from Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania. A graduate of the Jefferson Medical College, he served his internship and residency at the George Washington University Medical Center, Yale University School of Medicine, and The London Hospital Medical College. A diplomat of the National Board of Medical Examiners and the American Board of Urology, Dr. Appell is also a member of the American College of Surgeons. He is known in national and international circles as a leader in urological research and has participated in a number of clinical trials for new devices and pharmaceuticals used in the treatment of incontinence. Dr. Appell is widely published in leading professional journals and respected as an opinion leader in his field. Dr. Appell is also a long-standing member of the NAFC Board of Directors and currently serves as Vice Chairman on the Executive Committee.
Dorothy B. Doughty, RN, MN, FNP, CWOCN, FAAN
Ms. Doughty has had 18 years of experience as a wound, ostomy, and continence nurse and has been involved with nursing education in various settings for over 20 years. She is a nurse consultant in a multidisciplinary continence center and has provided multiple presentations in ostomy, wound, and continence care to a variety of nurse groups. She has edited two texts on the topic of urinary and fecal incontinence. Ms. Doughty currently serves as the Director of the Emory University Wound Ostomy Continence Nursing Education Center and is the past President of the WOCN Society.
Niall T. M. Galloway, MB, FRCS, FRCSE
Following his graduation from Aberdeen University School of Medicine, Dr. Galloway taught anatomy at the University of Edinburgh, where he subsequently lectured in urology. With a research interest in renal transplantation, neurourology, and lower urinary tract dysfunction, he initiated collaboration which led to the creation of the first multi-disciplinary continence clinic in Scotland. At the invitation of Duke University, he came to the U.S. as a research fellow and later was appointed to the faculty. In 1989, he moved to Atlanta and joined the faculty of the Emory University School of Medicine where he founded Emory’s Continence Center. It has grown to become a major referral center for patients with complex continence challenges. Dr. Galloway has received numerous awards of distinction, including the annual medal of the British Association of Urological Surgeons for the development of novel diagnostic methods in neurogenic bladder dysfunction.
Mickey M. Karram, MD
Dr. Mickey M. Karram is an internationally renowned urogynecologist and pelvic surgeon. He is director of Urogynecology at Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the “International Urogynecology Journal.” He is the past President of the American Urogynecology Society, and is currently the Chairman of the Board of the American Urogynecology Society Foundation. He has published more than 150 scientific articles and book chapters and has coauthored two textbooks entitled “Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery” and more recently “Atlas of Pelvic Anatomy and Gynecologic Surgery.” He has directed numerous postgraduate teaching courses and been invited to lecture and perform live surgery throughout the U.S. and abroad.
Deborah J. Lightner, MD
After medical school at Vanderbilt University, urologic surgery residency at Yale University and a three-year urologic/oncology fellowship at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Lightner moved into private practice in Minneapolis. There, as the only female urologist, and the only urologist interested in female voiding dysfunction, her practice quickly evolved from a urologic oncology practice to a neurourology, female pelvic floor reconstruction practice she enjoys today. She returned to an academic practice in 1995 at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where she is now an Associate Professor and consultant in urology. She is proud to join NAFC and partner in their educational, advocacy, and public awareness mission.
Betsy N. Omeis, RN, BSN
Ms. Omeis is a urology nurse and the Director of Urodynamics in the Division of Urology of the Department of Surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio. Ms. Omeis received her BSN from the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio in 1982 and has more than 20 years of nursing experience in the field of urology. She is a past treasurer of the Society of Urologic Nurses and Associates (SUNA) and the founder and past president of the SUNA Alamo Chapter. Ms. Omeis has served on the Board of Directors of the National Association For Continence (NAFC) since 1998 and, prior to that, served as the SUNA liaison on NAFC’s Project Advisory Council.
Ross A. Rames, MD
Ross Rames, MD, graduated from South Dakota State University with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry in 1983. Dr. Rames continued his education at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, graduating in 1987 as a Doctor of Medicine. His years as a resident and intern were spent in the Department of Urology at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), with the distinction of Chief Resident in Urology bestowed upon him in 1991. In that same year, MUSC Department of Urology invited him to become a member of its faculty, and in 2000 he reached his current position as Associate Professor. Dr. Rames is certified through the National Board of Medical Examiners and the American Board of Urology. He has won awards and honors from the Fellows of American College of Surgeons and the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. Dr. Rames’ primary areas of interest are incontinence, voiding dysfunctions, and urodynamics with a specialization in female urology/reconstruction. He currently teaches and practices at MUSC while maintaining a private practice at Carolina Specialty Care.
Carolyn Sampselle, PhD, RNC, FAAN
Dr. Sampselle is the Director of the Division of Health Promotion and Risk Reduction Programs at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where she is Professor of Nursing, Obstetrics & Gynecology, and Women’s Studies. Professor Sampselle earned her PhD at the University of Michigan, following her MSN and BSN cum laude degrees at Ohio State University. In the field of research, Dr. Sampselle has orchestrated research funding for numerous studies examining avenues for preventing urinary incontinence through the reduction of birthing risks. She is widely published in numerous peer-reviewed journals on the subject and has contributed frequently as an author to books and chapters. As a highly respected thought-leader, she has consulted and provided expert testimony before such bodies as the National Institutes on Health (NIH) Task Force on Opportunities for Women’s Health Research.
Steven E. Swift, MD
Steven Swift, MD, a graduate of the Ohio State University College of Medicine in 1987, served his residency at the Medical University of South Carolina, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, where he received the House Staff Excellence Award in 1988 and 1990. Dr. Swift completed his fellowship at the University of California at Irvine in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Urology. After completion, Dr. Swift returned to MUSC as permanent faculty to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology as an Associate Professor. In 2000, Dr. Swift assumed the position as Director of 3rd year Obstetrics and Gynecology students and practices Obstetrics and Gynecology and Urogynecology at MUSC. Dr. Swift has focused on Urogynecology throughout his professional career. He has presented numerous lectures on pelvic organ support and prolapse, overactive bladder, and stress incontinence.
Jean F. Wyman, PhD, RN, CS, FAAN
Dr. Wyman is Professor and Cora Meidl Siehl Chair of Nursing Research at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing where she directs the Center for Gerontological Nursing. She also holds a joint appointment with the Department of Family Practice and Community Health, School of Medicine and serves as an Associate Director of the University Center on Aging. She received her BSN from Marquette University, her MN in Physiological Nursing and PhD in Education from the University of Washington. Dr. Wyman who is certified as a gerontological nurse practitioner and gerontological clinical nurse specialist has practiced as a continence nurse specialist in women’s health and senior health clinics. She is nationally and internationally recognized for her research on urinary incontinence and the quality of life of incontinent women. She has been the Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on several NIH-funded clinical trials of behavioral, drug, and surgical interventions used in the management of female urinary incontinence. Currently, she has been investigating nursing care practices for urinary and fecal incontinence in nursing homes. Recently, she received a Continence Care Champion award from the National Association For Continence.