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The Endowment for Human Development
The Endowment for Human Development
Improving lifelong health one pregnancy at a time.
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Boards and Officers


EHD Board of Directors

EHD Title

Brian J. Stillwell, M.D. President & CEO
David J. Petillo, M.D. Vice President
N. David Beckwith, CPA Treasurer
Lauri Ann Maitland, D.O., M.P.H. Secretary


EHD Board of Advisors



Meet EHD’s Board of Directors

Brian J. Stillwell, M.D.
Back to Top Dr. Stillwell is EHD's founding president and CEO.

Dr. Stillwell received a B.S. in electrical engineering from Northeastern University and an M.D. from the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He completed a family practice residency at St. Vincent Health Center in Erie, PA, serving as chief resident his senior year. He recently concluded a 13-year career in emergency medicine, and is a former diplomate of the American Board of Family Medicine.

Dr. Stillwell is the primary researcher and author of The Biology of Prenatal Development DVD and oversees content development for EHD's human development education program.



David J. Petillo, M.D.
Back to Top Dr. Petillo holds an appointment as a staff emergency physician at a community teaching hospital in the greater Boston area.

Dr. Petillo received a B.S. in electrical engineering from Northeastern University and an M.D. from Georgetown University School of Medicine. He completed a three-year internal medicine residency at Worcester Memorial Hospital in Worcester, MA.

Dr. Petillo has long had an interest in medical education, previously serving as clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine at Boston University Medical School, and as clinical instructor of medicine at Columbia University. He continues to instruct medical students and residents in the Boston area. Dr. Petillo is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Association of Physician Specialists in Emergency Medicine.



N. David Beckwith, CPA
Back to Top Mr. Beckwith is EHD’s founding treasurer. Prior to assuming this position, he was director of financial reporting for the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.

Mr. Beckwith received his B.S. in accounting from the John Wiley Jones School of Business at the State University of New York at Geneseo. He became a certified public accountant at the University of the State of New York, State Education Department.

Mr. Beckwith has more than 16 years of combined experience in public, private, and governmental accounting; reporting and analysis; system development; strategic planning; and management. He has been involved with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New York and New Hampshire state societies of certified public accountants.



Lauri Ann Maitland, D.O., M.P.H.
Back to Top Dr. Maitland is a family physician who practices the full scope of family care, including obstetrics. She is also a member of the teaching faculty of the NH-Dartmouth Family Practice Residency Program in Concord, NH, where she precepts residents and assists with curriculum development.

Dr. Maitland received a B.A. in biology from Eastern Nazarene College and a master's degree in public health from Boston University. She received her medical degree from the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, graduating in the top ten percent of her class. She also completed a three-year family practice residency at Concord Hospital in Concord, NH, as part of the NH-Dartmouth Family Medicine Residency Program.

Prior to entering medical school, she was a senior research associate at Beth Israel Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, where she co-authored a variety of published studies primarily involving bone metabolism.

Dr. Maitland is a Diplomate of the American Board of Family Medicine. In 2008 she was honored by the residents of the NH-Dartmouth Family Practice Residency program with the Family Practice Role Model Award.



Meet EHD’s Board of Advisors

James H. Baker, Ph.D.
Back to Top Dr. Baker is the chairman of the Department of Anatomy at Howard University College of Medicine (HUCM). He is an associate professor of anatomy at HUCM, and a graduate associate professor of anatomy at the Howard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Dr. Baker received a B.S. in biology from Villanova University, and a Ph.D. in anatomy from the University of Maryland, where he conducted postdoctoral research in muscle biology.

Dr. Baker is involved in muscular dystrophy and muscle biology research, which has formed the basis for several dozen scientific papers and abstracts. He has extensive experience teaching gross anatomy and cell biology to medical, dental, and graduate students. He has received multiple teaching awards and oversees the training of master’s degree and doctoral degree candidates.



David H. Bernanke, Ph.D.
Back to TopDr. Bernanke is a professor in the Department of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Dr. Bernanke received a B.S. in zoology from Duke University and a Ph.D. in anatomy from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. As a research fellow in medicine, he completed four years of postdoctoral training in the Developmental Biology Laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Bernanke has published numerous scientific papers and abstracts and frequently presents at scientific meetings. He is a professional reviewer and has served as managing editor for The Anatomical Record. He is also on the editorial board of Clinical Anatomy and the FASEB Journal.

Dr. Bernanke is an experienced gross anatomy and embryology educator. His research interests include the development of heart valves and septa, and the formation of coronary circulation. Additionally, his research encompasses cell-matrix interactions, cytoskeletal changes, cell surface alterations in development and wound healing, as well as several other topics.



David L. Bolender, Ph.D.
Back to Top Dr. Bolender is an associate professor in the Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW).

Dr. Bolender received a B.S. in biology from Bethany College and a Ph.D. in anatomy from West Virginia University.

Dr. Bolender is a professional reviewer for Clinical Anatomy and The Anatomical Record. He is an associate editor for the Journal of the International Association of Medical Science Educators, Anatomical Sciences Education, and the educational website of the American Association of Anatomists. He has also authored and coauthored many papers and abstracts, and presented many scientific lectures. Dr. Bolender is an experienced anatomy and embryology educator and is the human development course director at MCW. He also has a special interest in the development of embryology education tools, including animations and distance learning.



Professor Stuart Campbell, D.Sc.
Back to Top Professor Campbell is world renowned for his historic contributions to the application of ultrasound in the field of obstetrics. He has contributed to more than 550 publications, including eight books, approximately 142 chapters, and 380 scientific papers. In addition, he has presented over 500 papers at scientific conferences around the world.

Professor Campbell established the United Kingdom’s first fetal medicine department at King’s College School of Medicine and Dentistry, as well as and the first early human development unit. He established a major ultrasound referral center, which produced the first studies on fetal echocardiography. He and his colleagues delineated normal fetal growth parameters, and were the first in the UK to conduct fetal Doppler flow studies. He recently introduced 3D ultrasound scanning to the UK, and set up the first 4D ultrasound clinic. The list of his historic accomplishments goes on and on.

Professor Campbell is an associate at the Create Health Centre for Reproduction and Advanced Technology in London. He is also Professor Emeritus at St. George's Hospital Medical School in London, where he previously served as academic head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Professor Campbell received a bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery (MBChB) from Glasgow University, a Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) from London University, and an honorary Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) from Lund University. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and an honorary fellow of The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

A pioneer of ultrasound diagnosis in medicine, Professor Campbell has introduced many new techniques such as the routine pregnancy scan, the early diagnosis of fetal abnormalities, the assessment of fetal growth and well-being, and the ultrasound screening for ovarian cancer. He established currently-accepted techniques for fetal biometry (measuring fetal head circumference, abdominal circumference, biparietal diameter, etc.). He was the first to apply early fetal measurements to predict a gestational age and a “due date,” and delineated the margin of error for such age predictions as a function of gestational age.

Professor Campbell is the founding editor and former editor-in-chief of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and a former editor for Current Opinion in Obstetrics & Gynecology and six other journals. He was president of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynaecology for eight years. He has also received numerous international honors and awards.



Bruce M. Carlson, M.D., Ph.D.
Back to Top Dr. Carlson is Professor Emeritus of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Michigan Medical School. He formerly served as the director of the Institute of Gerontology at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Carlson received a B.A. in biology, languages, and chemistry from Gustavus Adolphus College, and an M.S. in ichthyology (with a minor in embryology and histology) from Cornell University. He then earned an M.D. and a Ph.D. in anatomy (with a minor in zoology) from the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Carlson is a past president of the American Association of Anatomists, and has held executive positions in other national professional organizations. He is currently an editor or coeditor for six professional journals, and is a prolific author, whose articles have appeared in 29 scientific journals. In 2009, he released the fourth edition of his textbook Medical Embryology and Developmental Biology. Altogether, Dr. Carlson has authored a dozen books, mostly on regeneration and embryology.

Dr. Carlson’s extensive teaching experience includes courses in microscopic anatomy, medical embryology, developmental anatomy (graduate), embryology (Inteflex), regeneration in vertebrates, developmental biology, analysis of development, elementary anatomy, and numerous research courses and seminars. He has served as an advisor to NASA and has mentored numerous Ph.D. candidates and postdoctoral fellows.

He has also received many honors and awards, and is a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences.



Julian E. De Lia, M.D., M.B.A.
Back to Top Dr. De Lia is an internationally acclaimed obstetrician/gynecologist. He is the founder and medical director of the International Institute for the Treatment of Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome, at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare - St. Joseph Hospital in Milwaukee, WI. He also holds an appointment as a clinical associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Dr. De Lia received a B.S. from St. Peter’s College in New Jersey and an M.D. from the College of Medicine of New Jersey at Newark. He completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, NJ. He also earned an M.B.A. from the University of Utah while on their medical school faculty.

Dr. De Lia received a Research Award for Innovations in Gynecologic Surgery from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in 1991. He is a founding member of the Gynecologic Laser Society, and a member of the National Business Honor Society (Beta Gamma Sigma). He has also been an examiner for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and a diplomate of the National Board of Medical Examiners.

Dr. De Lia was recently named by his peers in the International Fetal Medicine and Surgery Society as one of the "fathers of maternal-fetal surgery," for his pioneering work in fetoscopic laser surgery techniques used to treat twin to twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS). He also developed dietary recommendations vital to the success of a multiple gestation. He has authored many articles and presented numerous lectures about TTTS, and continues to advance the worldwide treatment of this common cause of infant morbidity and mortality.



Charles H. Ellis Jr., Ph.D.
Back to Top Dr. Ellis was an associate professor of biology at Northeastern University in Boston.

He received a B.A. in zoology from Swarthmore College and a Ph.D. in biology from Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Ellis had extensive experience teaching embryology, cell and molecular biology, and genetics. His research interests included regeneration, molecular aspects of development, and neurosecretory regulation of reproduction in marine flatworms. He served on Northeastern University’s Health Advisory as committee chairman since 1973. He was also president of the Northeast Association of Advisors for the Health Professions and director of the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions.

Dr. Ellis served on numerous university committees, including the faculty senate, and chaired the Biology Ph.D. Qualifying Examination Committee. He also played cello for the Northeastern University Orchestra and local amateur ensembles.

Dr. Ellis served faithfully on The Endowment for Human Development Board of Directors for two years, until his untimely death in 2005.



Ona Marie Faye-Petersen, M.D.
Back to Top Dr. Faye-Petersen is an associate professor of pathology and associate professor of obstetrics & gynecology at the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham.

Dr. Faye-Petersen received a B.A. in biology, chemistry, and philosophy from the University of Colorado, and an M.D. from the University of Colorado Medical School. She completed a residency in pathology at Denver Presbyterian Hospital where she served as chief resident her senior year. She completed one-year fellowships in surgical pathology and pediatric pathology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Mount Sinai Medical Center, respectively.

Dr. Faye-Petersen is an embryofetal and placental pathology diagnostician and researcher. She participates in National Institutes of Health (NIH) supported studies investigating the placental features that help to elucidate or correlate with pathologic development of premature preterm rupture of membranes, intrauterine infections, and adverse perinatal outcomes. Dr. Faye-Petersen established a diagnostic reference laboratory in embryofetal and placental pathology, one of only a handful in the United States. She also established a digitized database of more than 550 cases of congenital heart disease to support multidisciplinary research and educational projects involving cardiovascular malformations.

Dr. Faye-Petersen is a well-known author, a recognized expert in perinatal pathology, and an experienced pathology educator and lecturer who is committed to a multidisciplinary approach to medical education. She has served in multiple leading roles in the Society for Pediatric Pathology, including as Chair of its Education Committee. In 2002, she received its Distinguished Colleague Award. In 2010, she was inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha, the only national honor medical society in the United States. Election to Alpha Omega Alpha is a lifelong honor, and signifies a lasting commitment to scholarship, leadership, professionalism, and service in medicine.



David W. Fontaine, M.D.
Back to Top Dr. Fontaine is chairman of the Department of Radiology, and treasurer/secretary of the medical staff at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, NH.

Dr. Fontaine received a B.A. in English from the University of New Hampshire and an M.D. from Boston University School of Medicine. He completed residency training in radiology at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, MA where he served as co-chief resident his senior year.

Dr. Fontaine is a practicing general clinical radiologist and a diplomat of the American Board of Radiology. He also serves on the Medical Executive Committee at Catholic Medical Center and the executive committee of Southern New Hampshire Radiology Consultants.



Raymond F. Gasser, Ph.D.
Back to Top Dr. Gasser is Professor Emeritus and Professor of Clinical Anatomy at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center.

Dr. Gasser received a B.S. in biology from Spring Hill College and a M.S. and Ph.D. in anatomy (with minors in physiology and pathology) from the University of Alabama Graduate School at the Medical Center in Birmingham.

Dr. Gasser served as course director for human prenatal development for 24 years and has received more than 20 teaching awards. A prolific author, he wrote one of the classic embryology texts entitled Atlas of Human Embryos. He has produced a variety of audio-visual anatomy teaching tools. He is the principal investigator of the Virtual Human Embryo, which provides electronic images of whole and sectioned human embryos from Carnegie Stages 1 through 23 (stages 18 through 22 are still under development). The Virtual Human Embryo is a major joint research and education project of the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center and the Human Developmental Anatomy Center in Washington, D.C., which is funded by a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Dr. Gasser is also a member of the Federative International Committee on Anatomical Terminology, serving on the Subcommittee on Human Embryological Terms.

In recognition of his outstanding research and educational contributions to the field of human embryology, Dr. Gasser has been chosen as the 2010 “Honored Member” of the American Association of Clinical Anatomy.



Mark J. Holterman, M.D., Ph.D.
Back to Top Dr. Holterman is an associate professor of surgery and the division chief of pediatric surgery at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago. He also serves as Surgeon-in-Chief at the Advocate Hope Children's Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois (suburban Chicago).

Dr. Holterman received a B.A. in biology from Yale University. He received a Ph.D. in immunology, and an M.D. from the University of Virginia, where he completed a general surgery residency. Dr. Holterman completed a two-year pediatric surgery fellowship at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle, WA. Finally, he completed a two-year post-doctoral research program at the Clinical Research Institute of Montreal.

Dr. Holterman and his colleagues at The School of Biomedical Visualization at UIC have produced a wide array of excellent embryology animations, some of which are featured in The Biology of Prenatal Development DVD. He continues to conduct immunology and stem cell research and is a recent recipient of a research grant from the Illinois Regenerative Medicine Institute sponsored by the Illinois Department of Public Health. He is pushing forward with his stem cell research and hopes to begin clinical trials soon using stem cells for the treatment of patients with spinal cord injuries, diabetes, and other diseases. 

Dr. Holterman has authored dozens of scientific papers and presented international lectures on innovative approaches to embryology education.



Paul A. Krieg, Ph.D.
Back to Top Dr. Krieg is a professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. He is also an endowed professor of the Sarver Heart Center at the University of Arizona.

Dr. Krieg received B.S. and Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Adelaide in Australia. At Harvard University he completed a four-year period of post-doctoral research in developmental molecular biology.

Dr. Krieg is a former member of the board of trustees of the Society for Developmental Biology, and a former member of the DEV-2 Study Section at the National Institutes of Health. He is a prolific author and is currently researching the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying formation of the initial vascular network in the embryo.



Maria Michejda, M.D.
Back to Top Dr. Michejda is a senior staff associate at the International Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of Immunology at Georgetown University School of Medicine, and a research professor in the Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at New York University School of Medicine. She also holds an appointment as a guest researcher at the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Dr. Michejda received a physician's diploma (the equivalent of an M.D.) at the Medical Academy of Gdansk, Poland, and a doctor of medical sciences at the Medical Academy in Krakow. She then completed a fellowship at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, followed by a second fellowship in the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University.

Dr. Michejda investigated the comparative anatomy of the developing cranial base and the development of the skeleton. She published an atlas on the ontogenic development of the hand and wrist in monkeys and in man from the fetal stage to adulthood, which is still the standard work in the field.

As a pioneer in the research of surgical correction of congenital defects in the fetus, she was the first to describe safe methods for the partial exterioration of the fetus for surgical purposes (the open technique – now widely accepted), allowing in utero correction of defects such as spina bifida. Dr. Michejda demonstrated the removal of a severe encephalocele in utero with full functional recovery, and developed various treatments to repair fetal bone deficits, including fetal bone transplants and the use of fetal bone paste for correction of neural tube defects such as spina bifida. She also invented a ventriculo-amniotic shunt used in the treatment of severe hydrocephaly.

Dr. Michejda is a stem cell and transplantation biology researcher, founding two companies whose purpose is to develop stem cell therapies for the treatment of various hematologic and immune disorders in children. She published 102 refereed papers, five chapters, and a book. She is also a founding member of the International Fetal Medicine and Surgery Society, and is the founding editor of Fetal Diagnosis and Therapy, the standard journal in the field. She served as an advisor to a number of academic and governmental organizations, including the parliaments of Germany and the Netherlands. She is also a member of National Advisory Child Health and Human Development Council at the National Institutes of Health.



Charles L. Saxe, III, Ph.D.
Back to Top Dr. Saxe is Scientific Program Director for Cancer Cell Biology and Metastasis for the American Cancer Society (ACS).

Dr. Saxe received a B.S. in zoology from Northern Arizona University, and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in genetics from the University of Arizona.

Until recently Dr. Saxe was a member of the faculty in the Department of Cell Biology at the Emory University School of Medicine where he was the course director for medical embryology and co-course director of molecular mechanisms of signal transduction. He also lectured in a variety of other graduate courses and scientific conferences. His current research responsibilities at the ACS include the areas of cell cycle regulation and chromosome segregation as well as developmental models of cancer and the signaling mechanisms required to regulate cell movement and cell behavior. He professionally reviews scientific papers, organizes three peer review committees for the American Cancer Society, and has authored and co-authored numerous journal articles.



Mark F. Seifert, Ph.D.
Back to Top Dr. Seifert is a professor of anatomy and cell biology at Indiana University School of Medicine, and adjunct associate professor in the orthodontics division of the Department of Oral Facial Development at Indiana University School of Dentistry.

Dr. Seifert received a B.A. in biology from Winona State University and a Ph.D. in anatomy from the University of Minnesota. He completed a three-year postdoctoral program in anatomy at the University of Massachusetts.

A veteran course director for medical gross anatomy and advanced regional gross anatomy, Dr. Seifert is the recipient of multiple teaching awards. He is a co-editor of Clinical Anatomy and currently serves as Program Secretary of the American Association of Clinical Anatomists. His research interests are in skeletal biology and include studies of the dietary effects of fatty acids on bone metabolism.



Allan R. Sinning, Ph.D.
Back to Top Dr. Sinning is an associate professor of anatomy at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Dr. Sinning received a B.S. in zoology from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. He received an M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of North Dakota, and completed postdoctoral work at the Medical College of Wisconsin in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology.

Dr. Sinning is an experienced gross and developmental anatomy educator. He has authored many scientific papers and presented at many scientific conferences. His research interests are focused primarily on the role of the extracellular matrix and its effects on various aspects of cardiac embryology. He also reviews scientific textbooks for Williams and Wilkins, and is a reviewer for The Anatomical Record.



Bradley R. Smith, Ph.D.
Back to Top Dr. Smith serves as associate professor and associate dean for graduate education, creative work and research, in the School of Art and Design at the University of Michigan. He also holds a position as a research associate professor in the Department of Radiology at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Smith received a B.S. in biology and art from the University of Utah, an M.A. in medical illustration from Johns Hopkins University, and a Ph.D. in anatomy from Duke University.

Dr. Smith is a decorated researcher and international expert in magnetic resonance imaging of the human embryo. He was the principal investigator of The Multidimensional Human Embryo project, funded by the National Institutes of Health. He founded BioImage, a medical illustration company. His human embryo imagery has appeared in multiple programs, including those produced by NOVA, The Learning Channel, and National Geographic. His animations derived from MRI imaging of the human embryo also appeared in a special IMAX® presentation produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation.