Kirstie Perrotta, MPH, and Angela Messer, MS, join host Chris Stallman, CGC in this special “summer grab bag” of topics related to common summer activities during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Our guest experts talk about everything from chlorine and sunscreen to Zika. 

Kirstie Perrotta, MPH, is an information specialist at MotherToBaby California, where she provides counseling by phone and chat. She received her Masters in Public Health (MPH) from the University of San Francisco, and has worked in the field of reproductive health for over 9 years. Kirstie currently serves as a member of the MotherToBaby Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF). Her interests include vaccines, infectious disease, and mental health during pregnancy.

Angela Messer, MS, is an information specialist with MotherToBaby California. She earned her undergraduate degree in psychology from Chapman University and her graduate degree from Kansas State University in academic advising/counseling. Angela has been with MotherToBaby since 2009, with experience in both research and counseling. She appreciates the opportunity to speak with people who are pregnant and/or breastfeeding and healthcare professionals regarding exposures and medications, and holds a special interest in stress and anxiety in pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Lisa Bain and Chardá Bell of the Global Communities’ Healthy Start program join host Chris Stallman to talk about breastfeeding, the racial and economic disparities affecting many communities across the nation and what they’re doing about it in San Diego, CA.   

From snake bites to polar bear liver, Adam Overberg, a pharmacist, board-certified clinical toxicologist, and the director of the Indiana Poison Center, joins host Chris Stallman, CGC, to dish on the most interesting exposure questions he gets. Overberg is an alumnus of the University of North Carolina and completed his residency and toxicology training in Indianapolis, IN. He loves talking tox and poison centers with anyone in earshot and is an ardent proponent of equity in healthcare education, practice, and research.

Grant Houselog, PharmD, CSPI, the assistant director of the Iowa Poison Control Center talks to host Chris Stallman, CGC, about the most common, as well as the rarest, questions his staff gets. From hand sanitizer to garfish, episode 59 touches on quite the range of exposure topics!

Dr. Steven Dudley, Director of the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center, joins host Chris Stallman, CGC to discuss the most frequently asked questions its poison center receives from pregnant people. Some questions addressed during this episode include ones that are unique to Arizona, such as rattlesnake and scorpion bites.

Dr. Dudley is a board-certified clinical toxicologist who graduated with a PharmD from the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy in 2015. He completed a toxicology fellowship with the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center in 2017 and spent nine years working in retail pharmacy