Skip to content

2026 Elections

SPER’s Executive Committee is comprised of eleven officiers and includes a President, President-Elect, an Immediate Past-President, a Secretary, a Treasurer, four Members-at-Large, a Trainee Representative, and an International Representative.  The 2026 Elections will include voting for the following Positions:

President-Elect, Member-at-Large, Treasurer, Trainee Representative and International Representative.

2026 Members of SPER are entitled to one vote per category. Learn more about the candidates below. 
Voting will conclude May 1, 2026

 

President-Elect

Izzuddin Aris

Associate Professor
Department of Population Medicine
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and Harvard Medical School

Candidate Statement

I am honored to be considered for President-Elect of the Society for Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiologic Research.  Read more

Karen Schliep

Associate Professor
Division of Public Health
Department of Family and Preventive Medicine
University of Utah Health

Candidate Statement

Karen C. Schliep, PhD, MSPH, is an Associate Professor with Tenure in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of Utah and a nationally recognized leader in life‑course reproductive epidemiology Read more

Member-at-Large

Ugochinyere Vivian Ukah

Assistant Professor
Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Medicine
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
McGill University

Candidate Statement

I am honored to be considered for the SPER Member-at-Large position overseeing the Equity Advisory Board. Read more

Brietta Oaks

Associate Professor, Department of Nutrition
University of Rhode Island 

Candidate Statement

I am a nutritional epidemiologist and Associate Professor of Nutrition at the University of Rhode Island with research focused on maternal and child health. Read more

Andreea Creanga

Simon and Bessie Grollman Distinguished Professor & Chair
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health
University of Maryland School of Medicine

Candidate Statement

I’m a perinatal epidemiologist, professor, and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM). Read more

Treasurer

Marina Oktapodas Feiler

Assistant Professor
Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health
Principal Investigator, Pediatric Environmental health and Development Studies (PEDS) Laboratory
School of Public Health and Health Professions
University at Buffalo

Candidate Statement

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health at the University at Buffalo, where I study environmental impacts on pediatric immune function, including clinical outcomes, immunologic biomarkers, and vaccine response. Read more

Loreen Straub

Instructor in Medicine
Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School

Candidate Statement

I am applying for the SPER Treasurer role because I want to contribute more directly to sustaining the community that has shaped my work in pediatric and perinatal epidemiologic research. Read more

Trainee Representative Candidates

Amir Lueth

Postdoctoral IRTA Fellow
Epidemiology Branch/Perinatal and Early Life Epidemiology
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)

Candidate Statement

I am an environmental and perinatal epidemiologist currently serving as an IRTA Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Read more

Sabrina Chiodo

PhD Epidemiology Candidate
Dalla Lana School of Public Health
University of Toronto

Candidate Statement

I am a PhD candidate in Epidemiology at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. My doctoral research focuses on understanding and predicting adverse pregnancy outcomes using population-based data.Read more

Zeyu Li

PhD Student
Department of Epidemiology
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Candidate Statement

My name is Zeyu Li, and I am a PhD student in Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where I also earned my master’s degree in Population, Family and Reproductive Health. Read more

International Representative Candidate

Rima Kaddoura

Program Manager
Maternal and Infant Health Monitoring System
Khalifa University
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Candidate Statement

I am honored to nominate myself for the position of International Representative for the Society for Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiologic Research (SPER). Read more