IPPS Board of Directors - 2020

Officers

Chair

Georgine Lamvu, MD, MPH, FACOG, CPE
Orlando VA Medical Center
13800 Veteran's Way, Division of Surgery
Orlando, FL 32827
Dr. Lamvu received her undergraduate and medical degrees from Duke University (1993, 1997) and she completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2001). She received her Masters of Public Health in Epidemiology and completed a fellowship in Advanced Laparoscopy and Pelvic Pain at UNC in 2003. During this time she served as a fellow scholar in the NIH T-32 Training in Epidemiology and clinical Trials Program, as a UNC Simmons Minority fellow and as an NIH Women’s Reproductive Health Research scholar. From 2003 to 2006 Dr. Lamvu began her clinical practice at UNC Healthcare Hospitals as an Assistant Professor, and completed an NICHD Triangle Clinical Research Fellowship in Reproductive Health. Her clinical practice and research focused on gynecologic care of women with chronic pelvic pain disorders including vulvodynia. She served as Director of the National Vulvodynia Registry from 2009-2016. She is also Past President and current Chairman of the Board for the International Pelvic Pain Society. She is Board Certified in Ob-Gyn by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and she is a Certified Pain Educator by the American Society of Pain Educators. She maintains an active teaching role as Associate Director for the Fellowship in Advanced Minimally Invasive Surgery and Gynecology at Florida Hospital in Orlando. Currently she is a Gynecologic Surgeon, a Pelvic Pain Specialist and a Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Central Florida and the Orlando VA Medical Center where she continues to be heavily involved in clinical care, education and research.

President

Kathryn Witzeman, MD
Denver Health Medical Center
Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology
777 Bannock Street, MC 0660
Denver, CO 80204
Sawsan As-Sanie, M.D., M.P.H.

Dr. As-Sanie is an Assistant Professor and the Director of the Minimally Invasive Gynecology Program and Fellowship in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Michigan. She is also the Director the University of Michigan Endometriosis Center. Dr. As-Sanie received her medical degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1998 and completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at MetroHealth Medical Center and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in 2002. Following residency, she completed a three year clinical and research fellowship in Advanced Laparoscopy and Chronic Pelvic Pain at the University of North Carolina. During this time, she also received her MPH in epidemiology.

Dr. As-Sanie is dedicated to the care of women with complex gynecologic conditions, including the treatment of women with various chronic pain disorders. She has a particular interest in endometriosis, as well as minimally invasive surgery techniques including robotic surgery. Dr. As-Sanie is actively engaged in numerous research studies. Her research interests are aimed at defining the underlying mechanisms involved in the initiation and maintenance of pelvic pain disorders, with a focus on endometriosis-associated chronic pelvic pain. She is the principal investigator for several studies evaluating the neurobiological mechanism of pain processing in endometriosis-associated chronic pelvic pain. Dr. As-Sanie has spoken at many national and international conferences on pelvic pain and endometriosis, and has authored and co-authored research articles published in peer reviewed literature.

Vice President

Mario Castellanos, MD
St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center
500 West Thomas Rd., Suite 680
Phoenix, AZ 85013
Colleen M. Fitzgerald, MD, MS is a board certified physiatrist, attending physician and Associate Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery, the Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation, and the Department of Urology at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. She serves as Medical Director of the Female Chronic Pelvic Pain Program at Loyola. Dr. Fitzgerald’s areas of clinical expertise and research include pregnancy-related low back and pelvic girdle pain, musculoskeletal medicine, chronic pelvic pain, pelvic floor muscle dysfunction, and pelvic rehabilitation. Dr. Fitzgerald received her medical degree from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in 1996 and completed her residency at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in 2000, where she served as chief resident. She is a former National Institutes of Health (NIH) Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) Scholar. She is the current recipient of an NICHD K23 Patient Oriented Research Award studying “Mechanistic Distinctions in Female Pelvic Pain Subtypes” and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R) Nadler Musculoskeletal Research Grant entitled “The Efficacy of Ultrasound Guided Posterior Sacroiliac Ligament Corticosteroid Injection in Pregnancy-Related Pelvic Girdle Pain: A Randomized Double Blinded Controlled Trial”. She is a Co-Investigator for the Loyola U01 Prevention of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (PLUS) grant. She is the past Co-Chair and current scientific committee member for the World Congress on Low Back and Pelvic Pain. She is an active member of the AAPM&R, the Association of Academic Physiatrists, the American Urogynecologic Society and the International Pelvic Pain Society, currently serving as Secretary on the Board of Directors.

Treasurer

Erin Teeter Carey, MD
University of North Carolina
Dept. of Obstetrics & Gynecology
107 Larkin Ln
Chapel Hill, NC 27516

Mario E Castellanos, MD, is a Gynecologic Surgeon in the Division of Surgery and Pelvic Pain at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center. He is an Instructor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and serves as the Clerkship Director for Creighton University School of Medicine. He is also a Clinical Instructor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. He is Board Certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Dr. Castellanos specializes in the treatment of chronic pelvic pain, including pudendal neuralgia, pelvic congestion syndrome, interstitial cystitis, and pain related to vaginal mesh procedures. He has special skills in pudendal nerve decompression surgery and image guided peripheral nerve blocks. In addition, he is an AAGL fellowship trained minimally invasive gynecologic surgeon for the treatment of complex pelvic pathology. He is fluent in English and Spanish.

Dr. Castellanos received his medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas, Texas. He completed his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Parkland Hospital and a fellowship in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery and Chronic Pelvic Pain at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center.

Secretary

Jason James Kutch, PhD
University of Southern California
1540 E. Alcazar Street, CHP 155
Los Angeles, CA 90033
 
Kathryn Witzeman, MD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University Of Colorado School Of Medicine. In 2008, Dr. Witzeman founded the Women's Integrated Pelvic Health Center at Denver Health Medical Center and has overseen its growth and development as its Director since inception. Dr. Witzeman joined the Board of Directors of IPPS in 2014 and has been a member since 2007. She is a Fellow of the American College of OBGYN and her clinical and research interests include vulvovaginal disorders, pelvic pain, menstrual disorders, menopausal problems, biomedical ethics as is applies to the field of OBGYN and medical education. Dr. Witzeman recently completed a Fellowship in Integrative Medicine through the University of Arizona. She successfully completed the 2012 APGO Scholars and Leaders program. She completed her medical degree at the University of Cincinnati SOM and subsequently completed her OBGYN residency training at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Past President

Colleen M. Fitzgerald, MD
Loyola University Medical Center
Dept. of Obstetrics & Gynecology
2160 S. 1st Ave.
Maywood, IL 60153

Amy Stein, DPT, is a leading expert and at the forefront of treating pelvic floor dysfunction, pelvic pain, women’s health, and functional manual therapy for men, women, and children.  She is the founder of, and a premier practitioner at Beyond Basics Physical Therapy in NYC. She is the author of Heal Pelvic Pain, an easy-read, self-help book and created a video called Healing Pelvic and Abdominal Pain: The ultimate home program for patients and a guide for practitioners. Amy is one of the founder’s of the Alliance for Pelvic Pain, a patient-oriented educational retreat, which is held 1 time each year. Amy is an author in the medical textbooks, Female Sexual Pain Disorders: Evaluation and Management and The Overactive Pelvic Floor and serves as the Vice President of the International Pelvic Pain Society. She lectures internationally, is featured in the Endo What? documentary, and has been interviewed in media outlets ranging from the medical segments of popular TV shows, like Dr. Oz, ABC’s 20/20, to such magazines as Elle, Prevention and More magazine and newspapers such as the New York Daily News. She is a member of ISSWSH, the NVA, ISSVD, ICA, and the APTA Women’s Health section. Amy received her Masters in Physical Therapy from Nova Southeastern University in 1999, and her Doctorate in Physical Therapy in 2013.



  • beyondbasicsphysicaltherapy.com
  • healpelvicpain.com (Book website)
  • healingpelvicandabdominalpain.com (Video website)
  • pelvicpain.org (International Pelvic Pain Society)

Board of Directors

Director

Diana T. Atashroo, MD
NorthShore University HealthSystem
757 Park Avenue West
Suite 3870
Highland Park, IL 60035
 

Director

Amy Benjamin, MD
University of Rochester
601 Elmwood Avenue
Box 668
Rochester, NY 14642
 

Director

Meryl J. Alappattu, DPT, PhD
University of Florida
Department of Physical Therapy
PO Box 100154
Gainesville, FL 32610
 

Director

Jorge F. Carrillo, MD
Orlando VA Medical Center
13800 Veterans Way
Orlando, FL 32827
Jorge F. Carrillo, M.D., FACOG - . Dr. Carrillo received his medical degree from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá-Colombia (South America). He worked as a Professor of Human Anatomy at his medical school for one year. He completed his internship and residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Rochester General Hospital in 2012. In 2014, he completed a Fellowship in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery (MIGS) through the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists (AAGL) and the Society of Reproductive Surgeons (SRS) at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. This Fellowship provides further training in conventional laparoscopic, robotic assisted and hysteroscopic procedures, providing the acquisition of additional skills to have the ability to care for patients with complex gynecologic disease using minimally invasive techniques. This training was complemented with an emphasis in assessing and managing patients with chronic pelvic pain conditions. He worked 3 years for the University of Rochester as Assistant Professor and was part of their Center for Chronic Pelvic Pain and Vulvar Disorders, taking care of a large population of chronic pelvic pain patients and serving as a surgical consultant. Due to his passion for education and adult learning he decided to pursue a teaching award given to faculty members within the University, a Dean’s Teaching Fellowship, which he obtained. This two-year program helped him continue to grow as an educator, through this program he developed research skills to complete high-quality educational research, was taught how to implement novel educational interventions, also learned about educational theory, teaching methods and curriculum development and developed skills in educational leadership, faculty development and mentoring. This allowed him to understand better the theory behind teaching so he could apply it to his day to day practice with patients, students, residents, fellows and colleagues. During this time, he developed a minimally invasive laparoscopic curriculum for the residents with both a didactic and a surgical skills acquisition component. Currently he works at the Orlando VA Medical Center as a chronic pelvic pain specialist and minimally invasive gynecologic surgeon, and is Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology for the University of Central Florida College of Medicine. His special interests are in chronic pelvic pain, pudendal neuralgia, abdomino pelvic neuralgias and neuropathies, endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, minimally invasive procedures and techniques, abdomino pelvic anatomy, adult learning, curriculum development, simulation in laparoscopic skills and self-determination theory.

Director

Krisztina Bajzak, MD, MSc, FRCSC
Memorial University
Health Sciences Centre, 2J557 Women's He
300 Prince Phillip Drive
St. John's, NL ALB 3V6, CANADA
 

Director

Heather Jeffcoat, DPT
Fusion Wellness PT
1057 Foothill Blvd
La Canada, CA 91011
 

Director

Karen Brandon, DSc, PT, WCS
Kaiser Permanente
OBGYN Department
9985 Sierra Ave.
Fontana, CA 92335
 

Director

M. Jean Uy-Kroh, MD, FACOG
Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi
Al Maryah Island
Abu Dhabi
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
 

Director

Kenneth Barron, MD
Center for Advanced Gynecology, PLLC
630 Peter Jefferson Parkway, Suite 140B
Charlottesville, VA 22911
 

Director

Fred Howard, MD, MS, FACO 
IPPS FOUNDER
 

Advisory Board

Director

Debbie Callif, OT, BCB-PMD
Continence and Pelvic Wellness Clinic
1516 W. Mequon Road, Suite 102
Mequon, WI 53092

 

Director

Erkut Attar, MD
Istanbul University
Bagdat Cad. Birlik Ap. 200/6
Fenerbahce, Kadikoy
34726 Istanbul, TURKEY
 

Director

Charles W. Butrick, MD, FPMRS
The Urogynecology Center, LLC
6730 W. 121st Street
Overland Park, KS 66209-2002
 

Director

Alexandra Milspaw PhD, M.Ed.
4Directions Counseling, LLC
165 Nursery Rd
Kempton, PA 19529
 

Director

Richard P. Marvel, MD
The Center for Pelvic Pain of Annapolis
130 Lubrano Drive, Suite 111
Annapolis, MD 21401-7192
 

Director

Susan C. Parker, PT, DPT
Linden Oaks Physical Therapy
200 Linden Oaks #300
Rochester, NY 14625
 

Director

Stephanie Prendergast, MPT
Pelvic Health and Rehabilitation Center
11500 W Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90064
 

Director

Frank F. Tu, MD, MPH
NorthShore University HealthSystem
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Walgreens Bldg Rm 1507
Evanston, IL 60201
 

Director

Sawsan As-Sanie, MD, MPH
University of Michigan
Dept. of Obstetrics & Gynecology
1500 E. Medical Center Drive, L4100 Women
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0276
 

Director

Amy Stein, DPT, BCB-PMD, IF
Beyond Basics Physical Therapy
111 Fulton Street #611
New York, NY 10038
 

Director

Juan D Villegas Echeverri, MD, FACOG
Algia
Av. Juan B Gutierrez No 18-60
Consultorio 1104
Pereira, Colombia