Study Personnel
 |
Christy Porucznik, PhD MSPH Principal Investigator Christy Porucznik completed graduate training in epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2003 and then moved to Utah as the Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer assigned to the Utah Department of Health. She and her husband decided that they wanted to stay in Utah and Dr. Porucznik joined the public health faculty of the University of Utah in 2005. Dr. Porucznik has taught epidemiology and public health to undergraduate, graduate, and medical students. Her research interest is in the way that environmental exposures affect health. The PEAK DAY study is her first research related to fertility. Outside of the University of Utah, Christy is a member of the Utah Breastfeeding Coalition and an active volunteer with La Leche League of Salt Lake City. She and her husband also run a non-profit organization, Volunteers for Outdoor Utah, and spend as much time as possible hiking and rock climbing with their two-year-old daughter. |
 |
Joseph Stanford, MD MSPH Co-Investigator Joseph Stanford is Associate Professor in the Division of Public Health, Department of Family Preventive Medicine, and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Pediatrics at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. A native of Utah, Dr. Stanford earned his MD at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine in Minneapolis, and completed his residency in family medicine and an academic fellowship and MSPH at the University of Missouri in Columbia. Dr. Stanford conducts research related to human fertility. He is a co-investigator for the University of Utah Vanguard Site of the National Children's Study. He teaches public health doctoral students and medical students, and also provides patient care at the University of Utah Sugarhouse Clinic. Outside of the university, he enjoys hiking, mountain biking, camping, and skiing with his family. |
 |
Karen Schliep, MSPH Study Coordinator Originally from Minnesota, Karen has lived in Utah for the past fifteen years. Her educational background includes undergraduate degrees in English (Carleton College, MN) and biology (University of Utah) and a master's degree in public health (University of Utah). She began studying for the doctorate degree in public health in the fall of 2007 with an emphasis in maternal and child health. She currently works as a research assistant in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine for Drs Stanford and Porucznik, helping them with various aspects of their research including serving as coordinator for the “Identifying your PEAK DAY of Fertility” study. Previously, Karen worked as the data manager for the PLCO Cancer Screening Trial, as a contract writer for various agencies/businesses including the Utah State Office of Education Child Nutrition Programs and as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mali, West Africa. Karen enjoys spending her leisure time cross-country skiing and backpacking with her ten-year-old daughter and husband. |
 |
Nirupma Singh Research Assistant Nirupma Singh is a graduate in Dental Surgery. She is currently pursuing a Masters program in Public Health at the University of Utah. She is working as a Graduate Research Assistant for Dr. Joseph B. Stanford. She supports the ideology that reforms in the health care sector particularly the reproductive and family planning issues can be achieved largely by empowering women. Given an opportunity, she would like to work as a champion for the women’s rights in Southeast Asia and Sub Saharan Africa. |
