Mary Fissell is the J. Mario Molina Professor of the History of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University. Her work centers on pre-modern medicine, asking questions about how ordinary people in the past understood and experienced their bodies. She focuses on the history of reproduction, with a book on the long history of abortion (antiquity to antibiotics) out next spring with Seal/Basic Books.

Dr. Noelene K. Jeffers is a Certified Nurse Midwife, an Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, and a board member of the National Association to Advance Black Birth. Dr. Jeffers utilizes a reproductive justice lens to examine the socio-structural determinants of Black maternal health. Her primary research focus is developing innovative and culturally specific models of care for Black women and birthing people through collaborative care with midwives and doulas. Follow her on LinkedIn and X: @hands4catching

Dr Sally Pezaro is a registered Midwife, an adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Notre Dame in Australia, an Assistant Professor at Coventry University, a Fellow of the Royal College of Midwives (FRCM), and an editorial board member of several midwifery journals. The overriding vision for Dr Pezaro’s ongoing work is to secure psychologically safe professional journeys, reproductive justice and excellence in health care. Follow them on social media @SallyPezaro

Bernadette Wegenstein is an Austrian-born linguist, author and critically acclaimed documentary filmmaker living in Baltimore. Her work brings together her feminist thought and her interest in human-centric storytelling. She studied semiotics at the DAMS at the University of Bologna, Medical Anthropology at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris and received her PhD in Linguistics from Vienna University. As a Post-Doc she studied Film at Stanford University.

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Annette Porter is an award-winning independent documentary filmmaker who produces content for corporate, broadcast and cinematic audiences on topics ranging from contemporary arts and culture to social and historical issues. Her work has been featured by broadcasters including the BBC, Discovery and NBC, and in publications including Washington Post and in The Guardian, Vogue Italy and The Independent.