Jenny Higgins, PhD, MPH is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she also directs a research center called the Collaborative for Reproductive Equity (core.wisc.edu). A behavioral scientist, she conducts mixed-methods research on sexuality, gender, contraception, and abortion, and over 60 peer-reviewed articles share results from these projects. In all her research and translation efforts, she endeavors to help people achieve their sexual health goals—for example, avoiding unwanted pregnancy, maximizing sexual well-being, enhancing reproductive autonomy—within the context of their lives, relationships, and communities. She recently completed two terms as a board member at the Guttmacher Institute, serves on the editorial board for The Journal of Sex Research, and just concluded her role as a member for the editorial advisory board for Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. She is currently concluding a 4-year, NIH-funded study of new-start contraceptive users' sexual experiences of their methods.

Dr. Traverso, a gastroenterologist and biomedical engineer, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. His current research program is focused on developing the next generation of drug delivery systems to enable safe and efficient delivery of therapeutics through the gastrointestinal tract as well developing novel ingestible electronic devices for sensing a broad array of physiologic and pathophysiologic parameters.

Heather Jaspan, MD, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Global Health at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Research Institute and an Honorary Research Associate at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Her labs located both in Seattle and Cape Town utilize mouse models and human cohorts and clinical trials to interrogate translational immunology and microbiology of mucosal surfaces, including the infant gut and the male and female genital tracts, with a further focus on infant immune ontogeny.