Pulse

Faculty named to state advisory boards

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George Saade, MD, Professor and Chair of EVMS Obstetrics & Gynecology, has been appointed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin to the state’s Maternal Mortality Review Team. Milton Brown, MD, PhD, Vice Dean for Research, has been appointed to the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) Science Education Advisory Board (SEAB).

The Maternal Mortality Review Team is dedicated to the identification of all pregnancy-associated deaths in the Commonwealth and the development of interventions that reduce preventable deaths.

“Maternal mortality and severe morbidity are rising across the country,” says Dr. Saade, who also serves as Associate Dean for Women’s Health and EVMS Foundation Chair for Women’s Health. “I am honored to have been chosen by Governor Youngkin to be a member of the Maternal Mortality Review Team and look forward to working with the other members and the state agencies to improve the health of mothers and babies in Virginia.”

Virginia’s maternal mortality rate more than doubled between 2018 and 2020. Dr. Saade and the review team will continue their work to determine what is causing that number to rise across the state.

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is moving forward with the 2018 Science Standards of Learning revision. The science standards include the science concepts and practices that all students in Virginia Public Schools must master in order to graduate. The revision process provides all stakeholders in Virginia the opportunity to have a voice in the science standards revision.

Dr. Brown joins individuals from Virginia businesses, science organizations, parents, the U.S. military, institutes of higher education and K-12 educators on the Science Education Advisory Board. The SEAB oversees the Science Standards Revision process and ensures that stakeholder feedback is reviewed and implemented appropriately into the revised standards.

“This is a very high-level board that provides general guidance to inform the standards review,” according to VDOE officials.

Dr. Brown’s guidance as a SEAB member will help shape science education for students in Virginia for the next seven years.