Task Force on Research Specific to Pregnant Women and Lactating Women (PRGLAC) Implementation Working Group of Council

In 2023, NICHD formed the PRGLAC Implementation Working Group of Council to put recommendations from the congressionally mandated, NICHD-led PRGLAC, established as part of the 21st Century Cures Act, into practice.

The PRGLAC Implementation Working Group of Council is a subgroup of NICHD’s National Advisory Child Health and Human Development (NACHHD) Council. It monitors and reports on how the Task Force's recommendations are being implemented to improve knowledge and research on safe and effective therapeutics for pregnant and lactating people.

The working group hosted a series of meetings on implementation activities beginning in November 2023. Afterward, the group presented on updates and findings (PDF 672 KB) to the NACHHD Council in June 2024 and released its report on implementation progress (PDF 1 MB) in July 2024.

Co-Chairs

Christina Bucci-Rechtweg, M.D.
Global Head, Pediatric and Maternal Health Policy
Novartis Pharmaceuticals

Susan Abdel-Rahman, Pharm.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Health Data Synthesis Institute

Members

Rebecca Abbot 
Senior Director of Advocacy
Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine

Alison August, M.D. 
Chief Medical Officer 
Comanche Biopharma

Pamela D. Berens, M.D.
Chief of Service 
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences
Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital – Harris Health System

Christina Chambers, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics and Vice Chair of Clinical Research
University of California San Diego

R. Alta Charo, J.D.
Warren P. Knowles Professor Emerita of Law and Bioethics
University of Wisconsin - Madison

Rebecca Clifton, Ph.D.
Associate Research Professor of Epidemiology
Milken Institute School of Public Health
The George Washington University

Alison Cowan, M.D. 
Head of Medical Affairs
Mirvie

Anthony DeLise, Ph.D.
Global Head, Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology
Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation

Camille Fabiyi, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Program Officer 
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
National Institutes of Health

Elena Gorodetsky, M.D., Ph.D. 
Research Program Officer 
Office of Research on Women’s Health 
National Institutes of Health

Julie Grimes, IBCLC, RLC 
Lactation Education Resources

Janet Hardy, Ph.D., M.Sc.
Independent Consultant

Alison Harrill, Ph.D.
Associate Director for Toxicology
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Kenneth (K.J.) Hertz 
Senior Director Federal Affairs
March Of Dimes

Elisa A. Hurley, Ph.D.
Consultant, Bioethics and Human Subject Research

Yasaswi Kislovskiy, M.D., M.Sc., FACOG 
Director of Reproductive Infectious Disease
Center for Innovative Research on Gender Health Equity
University of Pittsburgh

Sharon Nachman, M.D.
Professor of Pediatrics
Stony Brook University

Sara Quinney, Pharm.D., Ph.D. 
Professor 
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Indiana University School of Medicine

Jennita Reefhuis, Ph.D.
Branch Chief, Birth Defects Monitoring and Research Branch
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Kathryn Schubert, M.P.P., CAE  
President and Chief Executive Officer  
Society for Women's Health Research 

Rachel Gandell Tetlow
Senior Director, Government and Political Affairs
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

Eleni Tsigas
Chief Executive Officer 
Preeclampsia Foundation

Jasmina Varagic, M.D., Ph.D., FAHA
Program Director 
National Heart Lung and Blood Institute
National Institutes of Health

Kevin Watt, M.D., Ph.D.
Robert M. Ward Presidential Endowed Chair in Clinical Pharmacology
Department of Pediatrics
Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine 
University of Utah

Kaveeta Vasisht, M.D., Pharm.D.
Associate Commissioner for Women’s Health 
U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Lynn Yee, M.D., M.P.H.
Thomas J. Watkins Memorial Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Meetings

Contact

Emma Carpenter, Legislation and Public Policy Branch, Office of Legislation, Public Policy, and Ethics, NICHD   
Email: emma.carpenter@nih.gov

top of pageBACK TO TOP