Speakers - Council of Chairs of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Annual Meeting Speakers

Ronald D. Alvarez, M.D., M.B.A

Ronald D. Alvarez is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and holds the Betty and Lonnie S. Burnett Endowed Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). He completed his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1987 and his fellowship in Gynecologic Oncology in 1990, both at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He received his M.B.A. in 2013 from Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. He remained at UAB after completion of his fellowship and rose to the rank of Professor and Ellen Gregg Shook Culverhouse Chair in the UAB Division of Gynecologic Oncology, for which he served as Director from 2003-2014. He was also Vice-Chair of the UAB Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology until his transition to VUMC in 2016. He was the recipient of several NCI and other industry funded grants in support of his research in gene therapeutics for ovarian cancer and cervical cancer vaccines, including projects funded by the UAB Ovarian Cancer SPORE and the Johns Hopkins/UAB Cervical SPORE. In 2013, he served as President of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology. He now serves as secretary treasurer for CUCOG, secretary of AGOS, and Chair of the NRG Oncology Research Strategy Committee. He was Director of Gynecologic Oncology Division of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology from 2014-2018 and now serves as an ABOG at-large Director. Dr. Alvarez and his wife of 42 years, Denise, have 3 married children and 6 grandchildren.

Eve Espey, MD MPH

Eve Espey is Professor and Chair of the Department of Ob/Gyn and Family Planning fellowship Director at the University of New Mexico. She is past President of the Society of Family Planning and current Chair of the ACOG LARC Work Group as well as President of the Council of University Chairs of OB-GYN. She was instrumental in helping Family Planning achieve ACGME subspecialty status and is a member of the ABOG Complex Family Planning Division. Dr. Espey won the Margaret Sanger Award, 50th anniversary of Planned Parenthood of Rocky Mountains 2014 and the Rashbaum Award for Excellence in Family Planning from Physicians for Reproductive Health in 2013. She gave the ACOG Irvin Cushner Memorial lecture in 2014 and 2017 and addressed the United Nations in 2015 on the topic of intimate partner violence in Native American Women. She was recognized for her lifetime’s work in promoting Family Planning by the Fellowship in Family Planning in 2017; she has won a medical student teaching award every year of her 23 years as faculty in the Department of OB-GYN. As Immediate Past President of the New Mexico Perinatal Collaborative and Chair of the Department of OB-GYN, Dr. Espey is dedicated to improving access to women’s healthcare in New Mexico. She works with medical students, residents, fellows, midwives, nurse practitioners and pharmacists as a colleague and as an educator. She has numerous publications in contraception, abortion and medical education and has presented locally, regionally and nationally on these topics.

Nancy D. Gaba, MD

Nancy D. Gaba is a graduate of Vassar College. She received her MD degree from The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, where she also completed her residency. Dr. Gaba is currently the Oscar I. and Mildred S. Dodek and Joan B. and Oscar I. Dodek Jr. Professor and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at GW. She has held many other leadership positions, including Residency Program Director, and Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education. She has also been the Division Director for General Obstetrics and Gynecology and Vice Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She currently serves as the Secretary of the Board of Directors for the George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates. Her national roles include service as an ABOG oral examiner, Co-director of APGO’s Capstone Surgical Education Scholars Program. Dr. Gaba is a founding Board member and past President of SASGOG.

Todd Griffin, MD

Dr. Todd Griffin is Professor and Chair for the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine at Stony Brook Medicine. He graduated from the University of Rochester, received his medical degree from Stony Brook University School of Medicine where he also completed his residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology. He then went on to serve as a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy before returning to Stony Brook. Dr Griffin specializes in Minimally Invasive and Robotic Gyn Surgery (MIS). Prior to being Chair, Dr. Griffin served as the Chief Medical Officer for the Hospital from 2009 to 2013. He is a Former Residency Program Director, Clerkship Director and Fellowship Director for MIS. Dr. Griffin has served as an Oral Board Examiner for the American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology since 2007. Dr Griffin completed a Master’s In Business Administration (MBA) in Healthcare in 2019. He has received a number of different local and national awards, most notably he was the recipient of Stony Brook University School of Medicine’s highest teaching award, the Aesculapius Award. Most recently, Dr. Griffin was elected to serve at the Chair of the Faculty Practice Plan for Stony Brook Medicine.

Ricardo Loret de Mola, MD, FACOG, FACS

Dr. J. Ricardo Loret de Mola currently serves as Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Southern Illinois University and Gynecologist-in-Chief and Women’s Health Medical Director at HSHS St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, Illinois. Dr. Loret de Mola completed a Fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the University of Pennsylvania and his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Case Western Reserve University. He obtained his doctorate in medicine at the Monterrey Institute of Technology. He is certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology as a specialist is Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Obstetrics and Gynecology and Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery, and has over 100 scientific publications and presentations at national and international venues.

Christopher Morosky, MD

Dr. Christopher Morosky is an Associate Professor and Clerkship Director within the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He also is the Course Director for the preclinical Human Reproduction basic science course. Dr. Morosky is a member of the APGO Undergraduate Medical Education Committee, and he also serves as the Co-Chair of the CREOG & APGO Annual Meeting Film Festival. Dr. Morosky was involved in the creation of two APGO educational mobile device applications: “Managing Nausea and Vomiting in Pregnancy” and “Perinatal Depression”.

Dr. Morosky is the Co-Chair of the Connecticut Perinatal Quality Collaborative, and he also serves as the immediate past Chair of the Connecticut March of Dimes Executive Board. Dr. Morosky is an associate journal editor for the review journal Topics in Obstetrics and Gynecology. He has several times been awarded the APGO Excellence in Teaching Award and the CREOG Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching.

George D. Wendel, Jr., MD

George D. Wendel, Jr., MD joined the ABOG as Assistant to the Director of Evaluation on July 1, 2012 and became Director of Maintenance of Certification on July 1, 2013. Dr. Wendel became the ABOG Executive Director on January 1, 2017.

He was previously Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Division at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. He was the associate residency program director and then program director at Parkland Memorial Hospital (1992-2012). He held the Norman Gant Chair and served as the department’s Vice-Chair for Education.

Dr. Wendel has been a member and Director of the ABOG Maternal-Fetal Medicine Division and was a member of the Board of Directors (2004-2012).

He was a member of the RRC for Obstetrics and Gynecology (2007-2012) and served as Chair (2009-12). He was a member of the ACGME Duty Hours Task Force (2009-10). He served as Chair of the Council of Review Committees and a member of the ACGME Board of Directors (2011-12).

He has been a member of the ABMS Board of Directors representing the ABOG since 2017. He served on the ABMS Continuing Board Certification: Vision for the Future Commission.