Our Experts

James Allen, MD, MPH
James R. Allen is a former President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Social Health Association (ASHA). During his career, Dr. Allen has held key positions at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, Department of Health and Human Services, as well as with a number of other organizations, including the American Medical Association serving as Vice President for Science, Medical Technology, and Public Health. He has participated extensively in professional activities, including serving as a consultant to or member of the World Health Organization; the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers; the American Academy of Pediatrics; the Armed Forces Epidemiology Board; the American Hospital Association; the Institute of Medicine, Roundtable on the Development of Drugs and Vaccines Against AIDS. Dr. Allen has lectured and taught widely on a variety of public health topics. He is the author or coauthor of more than 120 published scientific articles, chapters, and committee statements. He has been certified by the National Board of Medical Examiners and is a Diplomat of the American Board of Pediatrics.

J. Dennis Fortenberry, MD, MS
Dr. Fortenberry is professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine where he specializes in adolescent medicine. He has conducted research related to adolescents, sexual behavior and sexually transmitted infections for almost 25 years. He also provides sexually transmitted disease (STD) care for patients of all ages at the local STD clinic.

Charlotte A. Gaydos, DrPH, MPH, MS
Dr. Gaydos is a Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and has joint appointments in the Emergency Medicine Department and Epidemiology and Population, Family and Reproductive Health at the Bloomberg Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. She is the Director of the International Sexually Transmitted Diseases Research Laboratory. She received her B.S. in medical technology and her M.S. in medical microbiology from West Virginia University. Her M.P.H. and Dr.P.H. in Infectious Diseases and Immunology were received from Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. Dr. Gaydos has extensive laboratory expertise with over 40 years’ experience in microbiology. She has authored 22 book chapters, over 320 research articles, and over 500 research abstracts and oral presentations.

Beth Colvin Huff, MSN, FNP-BC
Ms. Huff is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center where she serves as the Colposcopy Clinic Coordinator. She received her Bachelor and Masters of Science in Nursing degrees from Vanderbilt University in 1974 and 1979. Prior to her current position as a nurse colposcopist, her work experience includes eleven years in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at Vanderbilt. Ms. Huff is a member of the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP) and served as the sole nurse practitioner on the Board of Directors from 2004-2008. She continues to serve on a number of ASCCP committees as well serve on the faculty for their Comprehensive Colposcopy courses. She served as President of the Society of Gynecologic Nurse Oncologists from 1990 to 1992. She also holds current memberships in Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health (NPWH) and the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals (ARHP).

Versie Johnson-Mallard, PhD, RN, APRN, WHNP-BC
Dr. Johnson-Mallard is an Assistant Professor at the University of South Florida (Tampa) College of Nursing. Her research focus is in culturally appropriate STI/HPV prevention educational and skill building interventions resulting in positive and sustainable behavior change. In addition, Dr. Johnson-Mallard provides consultation to partners who share interest in the development of STI/HPV educational material, clinical guidelines and policy.

Shobha Krishnan, MD
Shobha S. Krishnan, MD, is a primary care physician and gynecologist at Barnard Health Services, Columbia University. Prior to joining Barnard, she was in private practice for 10 years, during which time she also served as a surveillance physician for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Krishnan is the author of the award winning book,The HPV Vaccine Controversy: Sex, Cancer, God and Politics- A Guide for Parents, Women, Men and Teenagers (Praeger 2008). She is on the Medical Advisory Board of the National Cervical Cancer and International HPV Cancer Coalition and is in the process of launching a Global Initiative Against HPV and Cervical Cancer. Details of the book and her cervical cancer projects in India can be found on her website.

Jeanne Marrazzo, MD, MPH, FACP, FIDSA
Dr. Marrazzo is a Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Washington, in Seattle, U.S. She is Medical Director of the Seattle STD/HIV Prevention and Training Center, president of the American STD Association, and Associate Editor of Sexually Transmitted Diseases. She is Protocol Co-Chair of VOICE, a large study testing vaginal and oral HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis in women in sub-Saharan Africa. She has led numerous studies of the molecular epidemiology, pathogenesis, and management of bacterial vaginosis.

Amy Stapleford, M.Ed
Amy Stapleford, M.Ed, is a sexual health educator, presenter, and writer with particular interests in the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of sexuality, including relationship styles, safer sex, LGBTQ issues, individual sexual expression, alternative sexualities, and communication among partners. Amy first joined ASHA as a STI Resource Center Hotline Educator, answering calls about testing, transmission and prevention of sexually transmitted infections; later she contributed to the newly-revised sexual health section of the ASHA website. She is committed to lifelong, developmentally-appropriate, comprehensive, and medically-accurate sexuality education about both the benefits and risks of sexual activity in order to empower individuals to make their own sexual choices.

Gary Richwald, MD, MPH
Dr. Richwald is a communicable disease specialist and clinical virologist. For twelve years from 1989 to 2000, he served as the Director of the Los Angeles County STD Program, the largest provider of sexual health and disease-related services in the United States. He is currently a consultant to the American Social Health Association in the area of viral diseases and Medical Advisor for the LA and Orange County HELP (HSV and HPV support) groups. Dr. Richwald has served as a CDC consultant in STDs, co-chair of the AMA Consensus Development Group on External Genital Warts and HPV infection, Chair, California STD Control Association, and has provided expert testimony to federal and the State of California legislative committees. He is the author of a number of publications in the area of STD diagnosis and treatment, HIV/STD prevention, human papillomavirus and herpes simplex virus infections, adult immunizations, resistant bacterial infections, evaluation of contraceptive methods, and the impact of immigration policy on communicable diseases.

Will Wong, MD
William Wong, M.D., is the Director of STD/HIV Prevention and Control Services, and Medical Director of the Division of STD/HIV/AIDS with the Chicago Department of Public Health. He was the Medical Director, City Clinic, San Francisco Department of Public Health prior to arriving in Chicago, and was medical director of Magnet, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Health Center. Dr. Wong completed a tour as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He is a board-certified Internist with research interests in syphilis, STDs among MSM, prevention intervention and health services research. Dr. Wong is also on the faculty of the Midwest AIDS Education and Training Center and the Cincinnati STD/HIV Prevention Training Center, and is a lecturer at the University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health and with the Cook County Hospital Department of Medicine Internal Medicine Residency Program.