Adwoa Baffoe-Bonnie Adwoa Baffoe-Bonnie is a member of UNC's class of 2021. She is pursuing a major in Neuroscience with a minor in Chemistry. After college, she intends to pursue a career in medicine with a focus on regional differences in healthcare delivery. She is particularly interested in maternal-fetal medicine and is excited to gain experience in MFM research working on the Environment, Perinatal Outcomes, and Children’s Health (EPOCH) study. |
Jose Bermudez Jose was born in Cuba and raised in Miami, FL. There, he attended Florida International University where he received his Bachelor's degree in Biology and Psychology. After graduating, he moved to Chapel Hill where he conducted research on the role of sex hormones and steroid hormone receptor signaling in inflammatory lung disease. Jose is now a member of the MFM department where he works as a bilingual Research Assistant for the P3 study. He intends to pursue a career in medicine with a strong emphasis on primary care and adolescent medicine. He enjoys rainy days, cooking, and soccer. |
Gabby Davis Gabby Davis is member of UNC‘s class of 2023 and is currently a junior. She is a psychology major with a minor in medical anthropology and African studies. She is interested in women’s health research, with a focus on maternal-fetal health disparities in underrepresented communities. After college, Gabby intends to pursue a career in the field of obstetrics and gynecology. On the MFM research team, Gabby works as a research assistant, with a focus on research studies that are ongoing at the UNC MFM Vilcom office. |
Karen Dorman, RN, MS Karen is the Director of Perinatal Research for the Dept of OB/GYN at the University of North Carolina. She began her nursing career in 1977 in MICU after graduating from the University of Texas. She moved to Labor and Delivery to start one of the first critical care obstetric units in the country. She has held multiple positions in and out of labor and delivery but landed in MFM research while at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Karen moved to UNC in 1998 and headed the MFMU as lead nurse coordinator for 13 years until moving to this position. Karen has 2 sons, a wonderful husband, an adorable dog – Roxie and enjoys cooking, bicycling and camping. |
Emily Faw Emily Faw is a third-year undergraduate student graduating in May of 2022 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is double majoring in ‘Exercise and Sport Science’ and Psychology. Her goals after graduation include furthering her research and clinical experience and pursuing a career as a Physician’s Assistant. Her research interests include the disparity of access to medical providers between rural and urban regions especially in the context of prenatal care and the effects of stress on maternal and fetal health. When not studying, she enjoys exercising, reading, and eating good sushi. |
Emily Gascoigne Emily Gascoigne is a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has been working with the Manuck Research Team since 2019, and she is interested in maternal-fetal health, both locally and globally. Emily also volunteers as a Doula on Labor and Delivery at UNC. She works primarily on the STEP-Inpatient study and COPES studies. |
Sierra Parkinson Sierra Parkinson is originally from Columbus, Ohio. She is a graduate of UNC’s class of 2021 with a degree in Psychology. After graduation, she has continued her position as a medical scribe on the Gynecology Oncology and Labor & Delivery floors at UNC Women’s Hospital. She intends to pursue a career in medicine with a focus on obestetric translational research. As a clinical research assistant with the Maternal Fetal Medicine team, she is working on the COPES and Environment, Perinatal Outcomes, and Children’s Health (EPOCH) studies. |
Trina Phan
Trina is a recent graduate from North Carolina State University in 2021 (Genetics major and Science Communication minor). She has been working with the Manuck Research Team since summer 2020. Though beginning her research endeavors in salamander molecular systematics and then working to develop methods to diagnose Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy (HDP) in the mouse model, she is interested in studying how environmental toxicants may induce high-risk pregnancies in people. As a MFM clinical research assistant, she is working on primarily on the Environment, Perinatal Outcomes, and Children’s Health (EPOCH) study. When she is not working, she can be found working on her portrait photography skills, baking artisanal bread, or finding the best hole-in-the-wall restaurants in the Triangle. |
Lauren Shumpert Lauren Shumpert is originally from Pensacola, Florida. She attended UNC-Chapel Hill and received a degree in Sociology with minors in women’s studies and social and economic justice. After serving with AmeriCorps in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, Lauren joined the MFM team as a research assistant. Her research interests include HIV prevention and treatment, women’s reproductive health, and community-level health promotion programs. She joined the Manuck Research Team in the summer of 2020 and assists with all currently active studies. She has a focus on developing innovative overall research organization tools including sample processing and storage tracking systems. |
Olivia Soto-Allison
Olivia Soto-Allison is a member of the UNC Chapel-Hill graduating class of 2023. She is pursuing a major in Hispanic Linguistics with a minor in French and Translation and Interpreting. After college, she plans to pursue a career as a Physician Assistant. She has not completely decided about what she would like to specialize in yet but is very interested in MFM and is excited to gain experience as a research assistant. Her primary role within the Manuck Research Team is to work on daily sample processing (placentas, blood) from labor and delivery. She also assists the team with Spanish translation and interpretation. |
