This webinar is designed to address the definition and epidemiology, pathophysiology, evaluation diagnosis and non-surgical treatment of chronic constipation.
Holly E Richter, PhD, MD is Professor Emerita Obstetrics and Gynecology, past Endowed Chair, Division Director and Research Director of the Division of Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery and Medical/Quality Officer of the Ambulatory OB/GYN clinics. She is Associate Director of Gynecologic Research for the Center for Research in Women’s Health and past President of the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons and the American Urogynecologic Society. She serves as an Editor for the International Urogynecology Journal and past Editor of Obstetrics & Gynecology. In 2019, Dr. Richter received the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons Distinguished Surgeon Award.
She was the Principal Investigator of the NIDDK-sponsored Urinary Incontinence Treatment Network and NICHD-sponsored Pelvic Floor Disorders Network at UAB starting in 2001. She oversaw other NIH (R01, R03) and industry sponsored research over the years. She was also the recipient of a 10-year mid-career award (K24, NIDDK) in patient oriented pelvic floor research and to this day mentors many young investigators. More recently she is the PI of a PCORI grant, oversees PFDN follow-up, has industry funding and has a Sparkman Global Health Center grant exploring outcomes in vesicovaginal fistula reintegration outcomes in women undergoing surgery in Ougadougou, Burkina Faso. She has 450+ publications, many in top journals such as JAMA and NEJM. Dr. Richter is the ACOG representative to the Section for Enhancing Geriatric Understanding and Expertise among Surgical and Medical Specialists council of the American Geriatrics Society/Hartford Foundation.
Niger has always held a place in Dr Richter’s heart. After becoming faculty at UAB she started to go to Africa to surgically help women injured in childbirth. She has been to Zambia, Ghana, Liberia, Uganda, Sudan and more recently has worked in Danja, Niger and Ethiopia. She has a strong interest in treating vesicovaginal fistulas and post obstetric fistula repair urinary incontinence and has visited Africa regularly for over 20 years both as faculty at UAB and as a board member of the Worldwide Fistula Fund. She has also been committed to advancing research initiatives and the training of our future (helping train over 20 fellows) urogynecologists here and abroad her entire career.