Introduction to Alicia Brooks Armstrong, MD and James Segars, MD

Bruce R. Carr, MD

In the current issue of Seminars in Reproductive Medicine, we have dedicated an issue to health disparities in reproductive medicine. We are delighted that our guest editors, Dr. Alicia Brooks Armstrong and Dr. James Segars, have agreed to co-edit this issue. They have recruited a very talented group of investigators to address these important issues.

Dr. Alicia Brooks Armstrong received her undergraduate degree in biology from Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, and her MD degree from Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. She completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and a fellowship in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the National Institutes of Health. In 2006, Dr. Armstrong received a master's degree in health science and clinical research from Duke University, Durham, NC. Before joining the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), she was chairman of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. She is currently director of gynecologic services and the associate fellowship director of NICHD.

Dr. Armstrong has developed an interest in health disparities, has published in this field, and has received numerous awards.

Dr. James Segars is the head of the Unit on Reproductive Endocrinology within the Program of Reproductive and Adult Endocrinology in NICHD at NIH and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD. Dr. Segars completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology and a clinical fellowship in reproductive endocrinology at Vanderbilt University, followed by a 3-year postdoctoral fellowship in molecular biology at NIH as a Reproductive Scientist Development Program scholar. Dr. Segars joined the intramural NICHD program where his laboratory pursues translational, clinical, and basic research relevant to reproduction with an emphasis on uterine fibroids. He has served as fellowship program director for the NICHD-sponsored Clinical Reproductive Endocrinology Training Program for 17 years and is keenly interested in graduate medical education and the training of the next generation of clinician-scientists. He is an author of more than 140 publications. Dr. Segars has served at the NICHD Institutional Review Board, several review panels, and currently serves at an NIH Study Section. At the national level, Dr. Segars is a member of several boards, including the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Society for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, and editorial boards, including Seminars in Reproductive Medicine, Reproductive Sciences, and Fertility and Sterility. His interest in uterine fibroids, a disease characterized by a marked health disparity, has stimulated his strong concern in health disparities of women. Dr. Segars holds board certification in obstetrics and gynecology and reproductive endocrinology.