The Global Health Institute’s October Global Health Tuesday Webinar is scheduled for Tuesday, October 28, 2025, from 9-10am CST. Niti Saxena, Chief Technology Officer, S M Sehgal Foundation, moderates a timely conversation on Community-driven Solutions to Maternal Health Disparities.
Niti Saxena will lead the discussion with panelists Dr. Zoua Vang, Meta Schroeder Beckner Outreach Professor – Professor of Civil Society & Community Studies; Director, Maternal Child Health Equity & Safety Lab, School of Human Ecology, UW–Madison; Dr. Jill Denson, Research Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health; Director, UW Prevention Research Center; and Dr. Tiwaladeoluwa Adekunle, Assistant Professor, Reproductive and Population Health, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
Please register for the webinar with this link.
MEET THE MODERATOR:
Niti Saxena
Chief Technology Officer, S M Sehgal Foundation
Niti Saxena is Chief Technology Officer at S M Sehgal Foundation with 19+ years of management and development research experience in Asia while working across sectors for non governmental organizations, the United Nations and international donor agencies.
Her expertise includes commissioning independent evaluations of programs focusing on gender mainstreaming, women empowerment, nutrition, collective action and the intersection of governance with agriculture and water. She worked on a World Bank research evaluating women’s societal situation with respect to the local justice system in Bangladesh. She was awarded a Ford Foundation grant to undertake feminist evaluation of a women empowerment program in India’s most backward district. Her interest lies in using mixed methods approach in every research she undertakes. Through her work, she attempts to link scientific evidence generated at the grassroots with relevant policies to further the movement of evidence informed policy making in South Asia.
At S M Sehgal Foundation, her core role involves steering research and technology integration in the domains of agriculture, water and education to strategize program enhancements and optimize impact on ground.
MEET THE PANELISTS:
Dr. Zoua Vang
Meta Schroeder Beckner Outreach Professor | Professor of Civil Society & Community Studies; Director, Maternal Child Health Equity & Safety Lab, School of Human Ecology, UW–Madison
Dr. Vang is the founding director of the Maternal Child Health Equity & Safety (MatCHES) Lab. She is the Meta Schroeder Beckner Outreach Professor and holds a joint appointment as a Professor of Civil Society and Community Studies in the School of Human Ecology and as an Integrated Specialist at the UW Division of Extension’s Health & Well-Being Institute. Reflecting her interdisciplinary scholarship, Dr. Vang is also an Affiliate of the Division of Reproductive and Population Health, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and the Institute for Research on Poverty and at UW-Madison. She is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at McGill University and an Investigator of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC).
Dr. Vang received her BA in Sociology and Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and her MA and PhD in Sociology from Harvard University. Her areas of research expertise include: maternal child health, Indigenous health, racism and discrimination as social determinants of wellness, international migration and immigrant/refugee health, and community-based participatory research. Trained as a mixed-method researcher, Dr. Vang uses both qualitative, quantitative and participatory methodologies in her studies.
Dr. Jill Denson
Research Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health; Director, UW Prevention Research Center
Dr. Jill Denson is a research assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. She serves as director of the UW Prevention Research Center, engaging researchers, community members, and translational partners in expanding community-based prevention research and health promotion to improve the health of women, infants, and families. Dr. Denson is passionate about maternal and child health, sexual and reproductive health, and health equity, with a focus on examining how social and structural drivers affect health outcomes. Dr. Denson’s research interests are rooted in collaborating with community partners to address health disparities through community-engaged research. She is particularly interested in building robust community partnerships, and centering the voices of those who are marginalized through capacity building and innovative research strategies.
Dr. Tiwaladeoluwa Adekunle
Assistant Professor, Reproductive and Population Health, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Dr. Tiwaladeoluwa Adekunle is a recipient of the Anna J Cooper fellowship for incoming faculty in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research integrates insights from Communication Studies, Public Health and Disability Studies to design and execute community-driven projects aimed at identifying multi-level barriers to perinatal wellbeing, improving the quality of obstetric care, and enhancing birth outcomes. She earned a PhD in health communication at Purdue University and completed her postdoctoral training at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.