Welcome to a new season of Good Health, Better World!

Dr. Sarah Tilstra is an executive editor for the book "Sex- and Gender-Based Women's Health: A Practical Guide for Primary Care." What is she most hopeful about? "I think that over time, some women are going to become better advocates for themselves and also for each other. And we're starting to see that both in health care and in other aspects. You know, the workforce in child care and their partnerships. And so I think the community is growing up together." Dr. Tilstra, section chief of women’s health and internist at the General Internal Medicine Clinic at Montefiore Hospital at UPMC, delves into the ways that women, as well as sexual and gender minorities, can better advocate for their health-related needs in Episode 1 of Good Health, Better World. Photograph by Martha Rial.

"I believe that we owe it to ourselves as individuals, as our society, as policy makers, as health care providers to be part of the tide that rises, to float all boats, to improve pregnancy outcomes that are intentional and optimal for mothers and offspring, and eliminate not just narrow, but eliminate disparities across all of these intersectional lines race, socioeconomic status, education and geography," says Dr. Hyagriv Simhan, professor and executive vice chair of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh. Catch Dr. Simhan in Episode 2 of Good Health, Better World, where he and Dr. Sharee Livingston-Anderson of UPMC Lititz discuss safer solutions for reproductive care. Photograph by Nick Childers.

Muffy Mendoza founded Brown Mamas a place for moms to grow and learn together. "Those 0 to 5 years with your baby are there priceless. And it's so important that we make space for moms to be able to make healthy decisions during that time so that she feels comfortable advocating for herself. She feels comfortable putting herself first when necessary, which is most of the time, and she feels comfortable making decisions that may not that may go up against the reality that she may believe she faces so that she can build habits that will allow her to see clearly that she is actually the author of her mothering journey. And it doesn't belong to anybody else. Nobody else is writing the book. She's writing the book herself." Of her group, Muffy adds: "It's really allowed me space to grow as an individual, but also allowed me space and grace in terms of motherhood." In Episode 4, Muffy and and Dr. Johanna Vidal-Phelan discuss finding community in motherhood.

LaJuana Fuller is director of Women's Imaging at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, where she is passionate about education and encouraging women to get their screenings. "I am most hopeful about, number one, continued awareness and education. What goes along with that hand in hand? Dispelling myths, (and) after that is appropriate screening...the appropriate screening because it does vary." In Episode 8, LaJuana break downs how screenings and vigilance can save lives among women of color, with Dr. Margaret Rosenzweig, researcher and professor of nursing at the University of Pittsburgh. Photograph by Martha Rial.

What's shifted in research on women's gender studies? In the last 20 years "there has been much more robust attention, not just in women's health, but I think across the biomedical spectrum, around the social and structural determinants of health, and in particular how some of these social and structural factors shape people's reproductive choices, their reproductive decision making and their outcomes. I think that's not necessarily unique to women's health," says Dr. Sonya Borrero. In Episode 9, Dr. Borrero discusses the ways that research can provide a lens to inform public policy in an equitable way. She is a professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh and director of CONVERGE, the Center for Innovative Research on Gender Health Equity. Photograph by Martha Rial.