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Natasha Frederick, MD
Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist
Dr. Frederick (she/her) is a pediatric hematologist/oncologist at the Center for Cancer & Blood Disorders at Connecticut Children’s where she is also the director of the Comprehensive Fertility and Sexual Health Program. She is an assistant professor at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University. Her clinical work focuses on the care of adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with cancer. She is a founding member of the Sexual Health Task Force within the Adolescent and Young Adult Discipline Committee of the Children’s Oncology Group, of which she currently serves as chair. Her research interests focus on improving communication between oncology clinicians and AYA oncology patients on sexual and reproductive health issues during and after cancer therapy.
Nina Francis-Levin, PhD, MSW
Lecturer and Faculty Research Associate
Dr. Francis-Levin is a lecturer in the Health Sciences Scholar Program and a Faculty Research Associate in the Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Research Group (AYA CaRES) at the University of Michigan. Recently, she completed her National Institutes of Health-sponsored T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology & Diabetes at Michigan Medicine, and formerly completed her National Cancer Institutes-sponsored T32 Predoctoral Fellowship in the Rogel Cancer Center. Her interdisciplinary research program is invested in improving psychosocial outcomes among adolescent and young adult cancer survivors, with a focus on behavioral health interventions that target fertility preservation uputake and use of assisted reproductive technology for family building after cancer. As an early career scientist, she contributes expertise in supportive care delivery as it pertains to the unique experiences of underrepresented adolescent and young adult populations.
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Sharon Bober, PhD
Psychologist
Dr. Bober is a behavioral health researcher and clinical psychologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School and the Founding Director of the DFCI Sexual Health Program. She is also past Chair of the Scientific Network on Female Sexual Health and Cancer, an interdisciplinary network of researchers and clinicians working to promote sexual well-being in women affected by cancer. Dr Bober’s clinical research primarily focuses on sexual health, quality of life and cancer survivorship. She has been a pioneer in developing brief, sexual health interventions for women after cancer as well interventions for women at high-risk for cancer who undergo risk-reducing surgery at a young age. Dr. Bober has also conducted multiple studies illuminating the barriers to addressing sexual health within a variety of health care settings. Her research has been funded by the NIH as well as multiple foundations. She has authored over 90 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters.
Brad Zebrack, PhD
Social Worker
Dr. Zebrack is a professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work and a member of the Health Behavior and Outcomes Research program at the Rogel Cancer Center. His teaching and research interests are in the areas of health, medicine, cancer survivorship and quality of life. He is particularly interested in the effects of cancer on the human growth and development of adolescents and young adults. His research has been funded over the past 25 years by the National Cancer Institute, American Cancer Society, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, Livestrong, and Hope Lab Foundation. Dr. Zebrack has clinical social work experience in both pediatric and adult oncology and currently serves on the medical advisory boards of several cancer support programs, including Triage Cancer, the Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation, First Descents, and the Cancer Support Community of Southeast Michigan.
Brooke Cherven, PhD, MA
Nurse
Dr. Cherven is a pediatric oncology nurse with expertise in adolescent and young adult cancer survivorship and fertility preservation. She has over 18 years of clinical experience working within the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta where she helped develop the center’s pediatric Fertility Preservation Program. Dr. Cherven’s research focuses on reproductive and sexual health among adolescent and young adult cancer survivors and has been funded by the American Cancer Society and the Children’s Oncology Group Nursing Discipline. She has over 25 peer-reviewed publications in the field of adolescent and young adult oncology, survivorship, and reproductive health. She is a member of the Oncofertility Consortium Pediatric Initiative Network and the Children’s Oncology Group Adolescent and Young Adult Discipline Sexual Health Task Force.
Jennifer Levine, MD
Pediatric Oncologist
Dr. Levine is a board-certified pediatric hematologist-oncologist with a goal of curing cancer, one child at a time. In addition to supportive care, she specializes in the treatment of children and adolescents with leukemia. Dr. Levine has a special interest in the effects of chemotherapy on fertility, with a research focus on identifying patients most at risk of impaired fertility so they can be offered fertility-preserving approaches. As the medical ability to treat childhood cancers successfully continues to improve, the Division is seeing more patients growing into adulthood and living productive lives. Dr. Levine directs the team that provides long-term follow-up care for survivors of childhood and adolescent cancers. For those who may not survive, she works to enhance the delivery of palliative care and to improve end-of-life services for patients, as well as the staff members who provide that care.
Natasha Frederick, MD
Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist
Dr. Frederick (she/her) is a pediatric hematologist/oncologist at the Center for Cancer & Blood Disorders at Connecticut Children’s where she is also the director of the Comprehensive Fertility and Sexual Health Program. She is an assistant professor at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University. Her clinical work focuses on the care of adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with cancer. She is a founding member of the Sexual Health Task Force within the Adolescent and Young Adult Discipline Committee of the Children’s Oncology Group, of which she currently serves as chair. Her research interests focus on improving communication between oncology clinicians and AYA oncology patients on sexual and reproductive health issues during and after cancer therapy.
Leena Nahata, MD
Pediatric Endocrinologist
Dr. Nahata is a board-certified pediatric endocrinologist, Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, and founding medical director of the Fertility and Reproductive Health Program at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. As an NIH-funded Principal Investigator in the Center for Biobehavioral Health at the Abigail Wexner Research Institute, she leads and collaborates on several clinical research studies focused on improving reproductive and psychosocial outcomes in pediatric populations at risk for infertility. She contributes to evidence-based fertility guidelines through multiple national and international organizations and is the author of over 150 scientific papers and book chapters.
Joyce Reinecke, JD
Fertility Advocate
Ms. Reinecke is the Executive Director of the Alliance for Fertility Preservation and was previously a fertility advisor for LIVESTRONG (a.k.a., the Lance Armstrong Foundation) and a co-founder of Fertile Hope. She is also a member of the Oncofertility Consortium. Ms. Reinecke is the co-author of 100 Questions & Answers About Cancer and Fertility as well as several articles on cancer & fertility. She has also given countless presentations to varied audiences across the country, and collaborated with leading professional and patient organizations to promote dialogue and policy change.
Jennifer Mersereau, MD, MSCI
Reproductive Endocrinologist and Infertility Specialist
Dr. Mersereau is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, and Division Director of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. Her clinical interests include fertility preservation, general infertility, endometriosis and polycystic ovarian disease. Her research interests have led to an extended exploration of comprehension and decision-making in fertility preservation.
James Klosky, PhD
Psychologist
Dr. Klosky is a professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the Emory University School of Medicine. He is also an Attending Psychologist within the Aflac Cancer & Blood Disorders Center at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) and serves as the psychologist on CHOA’s Fertility Preservation Team. Dr. Klosky’s professional activities have broadly centered on behavior-based cancer prevention and control among survivors of childhood cancer, and his extramurally-funded research program has focused in the areas of fertility preservation, risky sexual behavior, and HPV vaccination. As the Founder and Co-Director of the Fertility Preservation Clinic at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Dr. Klosky has 20+ years of experience providing clinical care to pediatric, adolescent, and young adult patients, and actively works on committees to develop national and international guidelines for fertility preservation among at-risk youth.
Julie Messina, PA-C
Physician Assistant
Julie Messina is a physician assistant (PA) who has worked in an academic, research and clinical setting in the field of oncology for the past 17 years. She is currently an adjuvant faculty at Rocky Vista University teaching PA students as well as working per diem at CHOC Children’s Hospital. Julie is passionate about fertility preservation and was first inspired to work in this field by her experience at the University of California Medical Center with young adult patients during their survivorship. During her career she has been an active leader on the fertility preservation team at CHOC Children’s Hospital. Julie knows that with exciting advances in chemotherapy and targeted therapies, more patients are cured, and with that comes the importance of meaningful survivorship. Julie currently resides in Colorado with her family and is actively involved in the Oncofertility Consortium, an international, interdisciplinary initiative designed to explore the reproductive future of cancer survivors.
David Keefe, PhD
Reproductive Endocrinologist
Dr. Keefe is a professor and director of Reproductive Medicine at Umass Chan School of Medicine and Umass Memorial Health. An award-winning teacher and researcher, Dr. Keefe has been published extensively (more than 150 papers and abstracts), served as a reviewer for such publications as the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and the New England Journal of Medicine, and presented to peers both nationally and internationally. He is a long-time participant in a number of key professional associations, including the American Society for the Advancement of Science, Society of Reproductive Endocrinologists and Society of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. His main topics of research include translational research in reproductive medicine, including oocyte dysfunction, reproductive aging and fertility preservation.