Equitable Prenatal Care: Preparing for Future Maternal RSV Vaccinations

Tina Tan, MD, FAAP, FIDSA, FPIDS, is Professor of Pediatrics at the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University; and a Pediatric Infectious Diseases attending, Medical Director of the International Patient and Destination Services Program (IPS), co-Director of the Pediatric Travel Medicine Clinic; and Director of the International Adoptee Clinic at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. She is currently serving as the Vice President of the Lurie Children’s Hospital Medical/Dental Staff. She is board certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Infectious Diseases.

Dr. Tan recently served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA – 2017-2020) and in 2022 was elected as the Vice-President and President elect of the Board of Directors of IDSA. She also served as the chairperson of the IDSA Committee on Diversity, Inclusion, Access & Equity (2017-2022). She has served as Chairperson of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Section on Infectious Diseases (SOID – 2014-2018) and as a member of the AAP Committee on Infectious Diseases (COID – Redbook Committee – 2010-2018). She currently serves as chairperson of the: AAP Global Immunization Advocacy Project Advisory Committee and is a Technical Advisor for the AAP/CDC Global Immunization Advocacy Project. She is a member of the AAP Antimicrobial Resistance and Stewardship Workgroup – Education Subcommittee, AAP Expert Pertussis Cocooning Advisory Committee, and is a liaison to the CDC ACIP Pertussis Working Group and Polio Working Group and to the Illinois Chapter of the AAP OB/GYN Immunizations and Pregnancy Outreach Committee. She is a member of the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) Global Health Task Force Dissemination and Advocacy Work Group. Dr. Tan is a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors, Office of Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) where she serves as co-Chair of the AFM Task Force and the Vaccine Confidence Task Force. She served as a member of the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines of the US Department of Health and Human Services (2016-2019) and as a member of the Vaccine and Related Biologic Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (2019-2022).

Dr. Tan is the Editor-in-Chief of Contemporary Pediatrics and the American Academy of Pediatric’s Redbook Atlas of Pediatric Infectious Diseases and the Redbook: A Quick Diagnostic Deck. She serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (Official Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society – PIDS), Internal Medicine Reviews, and Vaccines.

Dr. Tan is the Co-Chairperson and US Representative to the International Steering Committee of the Global Pertussis Initiative (GPI); a member and consultant to the Steering Committee of the Latin America Without Pertussis Initiative (PAHEF, SLIPE); a member of the Expert Pertussis Core Team for Latin America & the Caribbean: Pertussis Action Plan 2020; a member of the Board of Directors of the World Association of Infectious Diseases and Immunological Disorders (WAidid); and a member of the US National Pertussis Task Force (AAP and Every Child by Two).

Dr. Tan’s interests include pertussis disease and vaccines, pneumococcal disease and vaccines, CA-MRSA infections, antibiotic resistance, vaccines and vaccine preventable diseases, general infectious diseases, vaccination of cancer patients with routinely recommended adult preventative vaccines, and vaccine education for healthcare providers and patients.

Kevin A. Ault, MD, FACOG, FIDSA, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine. Dr. Ault is a former member of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice and is an author on current guidelines concerning maternal immunization, including RSV.

LaToshia Rouse is a certified birth and postpartum doula/owner of Birth Sisters Doula Services, as well as a Patient and Family Engagement Consultant. She contracts with Institute of Patient and Family Centered Care (IPFCC), the University of Chapel Hill and several organizations to offer her expertise in patient engagement, doulas, and equity. Her journey began as a patient partner 10 years ago, after having triplets at 26 weeks gestation via an emergency vaginal delivery. Early on, LaToshia’s work focused on bringing the parent perspective to the newborn intensive care unit (NICU) and antepartum improvement committees at WakeMed Health and Hospitals, including serving as a member of the NICU’s Vermont Oxford Network (VON) team. LaToshia has served as a subject matter expert and expert team member for the National Network of Perinatal Quality Collaboratives (NNPQC), American Board of Pediatrics (ABP), American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), and many other organizations.

Ms. Rouse’s work has spanned all levels of healthcare, with work in research, policy, executive committee level, and board of directors with the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) and the National Institute for Children’s Health Quality (NICHQ). She worked on policy with the North Carolina Institute of Medicine’s (NCIOM) Maternal Health Taskforce and worked on policy as Co-Chair of the NCIOM’s Taskforce on the Perinatal System of Care in 2019. Her measurement work started in 2020, with the Maternal and Child Health- Measurement Research Network where she Co-Chairs the Equity Committee for the project. She is also a Co-Chair of the (National Network of Perinatal Quality Collaboratives) NNPQC’s Executive Committee. LaToshia completed her Diversity and Inclusion Certification at Cornell University to further impact equity for families, moms, and babies. The opportunity to sit on National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)’s HEDIS and Health Equity Expert Work Group has been one of those opportunities. In reflecting on the work she’s engaged in over the last number of years, LaToshia’s passion is finding ways for clinicians and patients to have a true partnership and improve outcomes.