Dr. Kacica is the Medical Director of the Division of Family Health at the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and a Clinical Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University at Albany School of Public Health. Dr. Kacica is a Pediatrician, with subspecialties in Infectious Disease and Preventive Medicine. In her current capacity, Dr Kacica provides oversight to the state's work in maternal and child health to improve outcomes. She represents the Department across agencies and nationally. She serves as the lead for the New York State Perinatal Quality Collaborative, the Maternal Mortality Review Initiative, and the State Maternal Health Innovation Initiative. She participates in policy, program planning and evaluation for the Title V program addressing the needs of NYS's maternal and child health populations. Prior to this role, Dr. Kacica served as the Medical Director in the Regional Epidemiology and Infection Control Program in the Division of Epidemiology at the New York State Department of Health. This included emergency preparedness activities which continue today. Before coming to the Department of Health, Dr. Kacica was an Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the section of Infectious Diseases at the Children's Hospital of Albany Medical College. Dr. Kacica also serves as a member of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Infant and Maternal Mortality.

Mary E. D'Alton, MD is Obstetrician and Gynecologist-in-Chief and Chair at New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Specializing in Maternal Fetal Medicine, the majority of Dr. D'Alton's practice focuses on patients with high-risk pregnancies due to complex fetal or maternal conditions. At NYP/CUIMC, she has implemented a multidisciplinary, coordinated approach to manage the highest risk pregnancies at the Carmen and John Thain Center for Prenatal Pediatrics, which opened in 2011, and the Mothers Center, which opened in May 2018. As Chair of the Department of Ob/Gyn, Dr. D'Alton has worked to fill the gaps in women's health, building and strengthening NYP/CUIMC's programs in infertility, minimally invasive gynecologic surgery, gynecologic oncology, family planning, and integrated women's health care. Her work to advance education, research, clinical practice, and policy in women's health has won national recognition, including her election to the National Academy of Medicine in 2013. As co-chair of ACOG District II's Safe Motherhood Initiative since 2013, Dr. D'Alton has played a pivotal role in the effort to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity in New York State and nationally. Dr. D'Alton has served as president of the American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society (AGOS) and of the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine (SMFM), which honored her with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. In 2019, she was awarded the Seymour Milstein Distinguished Service Award. In 2022, she became co-chair for the New York State Maternal Mortality Review Board. The author or contributor to over 320 publications, Dr. D'Alton is co-editor of Seminars in Perinatology and has served on the editorial board of ACOG's Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Ms. Cheryl Hunter-Grant is a lifelong advocate working in Chronic Disease and Maternal Child Health for her entire career. Her ability to develop and maintain productive relationships with colleagues, customers, funders, government and elected officials, and staff at all levels has allowed her to be a leader in Maternal and Child Health. In 2019 Cheryl was the recipient of the L. Stanley James Award named in recognition of Dr. James - the founder of the New York State Perinatal Association and is NYSPA's highest honor.

Cheryl has spent her career addressing health inequities and working to eliminate disparities in health outcomes.

Ms. Hunter-Grant served as the initial Coordinator of the Comprehensive Sickle Cell Program at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital under the direction of the late Dr. Doris Wethers. She also served as a Public Health Administrator for the NYS Department of Health coordinating Sickle Cell and Genetics Services for the Metropolitan NY Region, strengthening interactions between and among Sickle Cell Programs within the region.

Following her tenure at the Health Department, Ms. Hunter-Grant directed the Programs & Health Services Divisions at the Bronx Perinatal Consortium, Inc. Under her leadership Community Health Worker and Home Visiting services were strengthened and grew. She led the first Healthy Families NY program in the Bronx which received both state and national certification.

Ms. Hunter-Grant went on to serve as a Senior Program and Policy Associate at the Children's Defense Fund – New York office, and was part of the team that worked with the NYS DOH to create a single application for the Children's Health Insurance Program. She was one of the lead trainers training Facilitated Enrollers on its use.

In December 2019 she retired from her position as the inaugural Executive Director of the Lower Hudson Valley Perinatal Network a Community Based Organization, organized in 2004, that mobilizes the community to eliminate disparities, and improve the health of women, children and families in New York's Lower Hudson Valley, which includes Dutchess, Putnam, Rockland & Westchester counties. During her tenure, she developed and implemented Community Health Worker programs, Rockland County's Healthy Families NY Home Visiting Program and youth serving programs titled, Healthy From Birth For Life and the Rockland D.R.E.A.M. Project (Dare to Reach your Expectations And More). She was a member of the National Action Partnership to Promote Safe Sleep Improvement and Innovation Network (NAPPSS-IIN) Wisdom Council representing NY providing an equity lens to the initiative. She was a volunteer on the March of Dimes Program Services Committee and the Westchester County Youth Board, and Co-Chair of the NYS DOH Post Partum Work Group of the Taskforce on Maternal Mortality and Disparate Racial Outcomes. Cheryl serves on the Advisory Committee of Candice's Sickle Cell Fund and is currently a member of the Sister to Sister International Black Woman and Girl Child Maternal Health Work Group.

She currently is the Vice Chair of the NYS Maternal Child Health Block Grant Advisory Council and serves as Chair of the NYS Maternal Mortality & Morbidity Advisory Council (MMMAC). In March 2024, the MMMAC released recommendations on policies, best practices, and strategies to prevent maternal mortality and morbidity. Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Advisory Council Report, 2023 (ny.gov)

Cheryl earned a Master of Social Work degree from Hunter College School of Social Work in New York City, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Simmons College, Boston, Massachusetts.

Dr. Wendy Wilcox is an expert in Women's Health. She is an obstetrician gynecologist and the Chief Women's Health Officer for New York City Health + Hospitals, the largest municipal health system in the United States. Within the NYC Health + Hospitals system, Dr. Wilcox has held numerous roles including Chair of the OB/GYN and Women's Health Council, Chair of the Department of OBGYN at NYC H+H/Kings County and Vice Chair of NYC H+H/ Jacobi and North Central Bronx hospitals. Dr. Wilcox has been a long-time advocate for women and children.

Dr. Wilcox is one of the co-Chairs of the NYS Maternal Mortality Review Board, the NYS Taskforce for Maternal Mortality and Disparate Racial Outcomes and is current Co-Chair of the Brooklyn Borough Maternal Health Taskforce. She is a Fellow of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the New York Academy of Medicine. She has had prior academic appointments at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and SUNY Downstate School of Medicine. She is currently an Associate Professor of Clinical OBGYN at CUNY School of Medicine. Dr. Wilcox is a member of the NYS Public Health and Public Health Planning Council, the NYS Birth Equity Advisory Board, Institute Board of America's Essential Hospitals, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) District 2 Advisory Council and Legislative Committees, Pembroke Advisory Council of Brown University and the New York Community Hospital Academic Maternal Health Equity Partnerships (NY-CHAMP) CHARGE Board.

Dr. Wilcox has been featured in 2024 Top Doctors and Exceptional Women in Medicine. Dr. Wilcox attended Brown University for her undergraduate training and medical school at SUNY Upstate Medical Center. She received her Master of Public Health from Columbia University and an MBA from Wagner College.

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