Meet the Team

Dr. Bridget Basile’s research aims to improve birth outcomes for women and birthing people marginalized by intersections of race, socioeconomic status, and geography by improving the experience and quality of perinatal care. She has over a decade of clinical experience working as a family nurse practitioner providing primary care to underserved communities in urban and rural areas of the United States and Canada. She also has experience as a doula and certified breastfeeding specialist.

Dr. Combellick is a certified nurse midwife. In addition to a master’s degree in nursing/midwifery from Yale, she holds a master’s degree in Global Public Health and a PhD from New York University. She has completed an Advanced Women’s Health Fellowship at the CT VA. Her post-doctoral work focused on improving maternity and reproductive health care for high-risk individuals, particularly those  who experience psychological trauma or whose care is suboptimal due to mental health problems.

Dr. Eggen’s research is centered on better understanding the outcomes and experiences of reproductive and maternal healthcare using quantitative and mixed-methods approaches. She has over 10 years of experience working in community-based and state-wide non-profit organizations and a special interest in conducting local level research  to inform policy & practice. Melissa has a PhD from the University of Louisville, MPH from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a BA from the University of KY

Dr. Schafer is deeply committed to improving the health and care of women and their families through research, teaching, practice, and service. She is an Assistant Professor in the Advanced Practice Nursing division at Rutgers School of Nursing and works as a certified nurse-midwife at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Rutgers Health OBGYN. Robyn holds a PhD from Vanderbilt University, BA and EdM degrees from Boston University, and earned an MSN at Yale University. 

Emily is a joint degree student in the MPH/GEPN programs. Emily is a practicing EMT, as well as an EMS educator. Her main areas of research are rural health, health equity, EMS, maternal and child health, and mental health.

Fong-Ying is a dual degree MSN/ MPH at Yale University. She has worked as a Registered Nurse in Taiwan specializing in hematology and bone marrow transplant care. Her main research interest is understanding health outcomes in rural populations, especially those of indigenous populations in Taiwan.