A board-certified urologist since 1983, Doug Stein has focused his practice on vasectomy and vasectomy reversal since 2000. He provides vasectomy services at 17 locations in Florida and, as Development Director of No-Scalpel Vasectomy International (NSVI.org), he has helped develop vasectomy programs in the Philippines, Haiti, and Kenya. By a stroke of good fortune, he was “discovered” by filmmaker Jonathan Stack (the Founder of World Vasectomy Day), and so played a central role in “The Vasectomist” documentary and in the first World Vasectomy Day.
Dr. Michel Labrecque is a full-professor from the Department of Family and Emergency Medicine at Laval University, Quebec City, Canada. He has performed over 22 000 NSV (no scalpel vasectomy) since 1992 and about 25 000 in his career. He was the first NSV practitioner in Canada. He has taught NSV to over 40 clinicians nationally and internationally, has been invited to speak at many international conferences, and wrote extensively on the topic. He also worked as a consultant for two international NGOs (FHI 360 and EngenderHealth) promoting safe family planning practices in developing world.
Dr. Chic Wilson is a Seattle native and graduate of the UW School of Medicine. For over 30 years he has collaborated with other interested vasectomy doctors to advance modern vasectomy technique. His contributions include the Wilson vasectomy forceps, the no-scalpel vasectomy training model and training videos, procedure workshops on No-Scalpel Vasectomy, Advanced Vasectomy Techniques, and No-Needle Anesthesia. He created the peer-reviewed AAFP monograph and video guide No-Scalpel Vasectomy for the Family Physician.
In 1999, Dr. Wilson originated the No-Needle Vasectomy technique. He authored the Vasectomy Chapter in the 4th edition of Pfenninger and Fowler’s Procedures for Primary Care.
In addition to private practice, Dr. Wilson is a Clinical Associate Professor in the University of Washington School of Medicine, where he teaches medicine and surgery to physicians and medical students. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Dr. Wilson attended WVD 2017 in Mexico.
Dr. Ramon Suarez graduated with an M.D. degree at Southwestern University, Cebu City, Philippines in 1962. Suarez completed my Surgical/Urological Residency at Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pa in 1971. Suarez was in a private practice in Urology for over 30 years in Lebanon and Hershey, Pa. and became a Clinical Assistant Professor and Faculty in Urology at The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pa. He is one of the first American physician trained and certified by Dr. Li Shunqiang, the inventor of No-Scalpel Vasectomy in China. A diplomat of the American Board of Urology and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Suarez is a co-founder and current president of No-Scalpel Vasectomy International (NSVI), a (501)(c)(3) charitable organization providing FREE vasectomy in the Philippines, Haiti, Kenya and other developing countries. On August 12, 2013, he will summit Mt. Kilimanjaro to unfurl the banner of the first WVD.
Dr Nick Demediuk is an Australian procedural general practitioner performing vasectomies and skin cancer surgery. He has a special interest in infection prevention and control in his office based practice and has advised, authored works, and developed standards for both government and professional bodies.He practices in 2 states, Keysborough (suburban Melbourne Victoria) and Bokarina (on the Sunshine Coast Queensland). He has worked as a member of the ‘No Scalpel Vasectomy International’ group in the Philippines.
Dr. John Curington has been performing vasectomies for over 20 years. After graduating from Yale with a degree in Linguistics, Dr. Curington worked as a teacher for a few years and then attended the University of California School of Medicine at Davis. His residency was in Family Medicine in Northern California, where he also worked in Emergency Medicine. Dr. Curington is currently board-certified by the American Board of Family Medicine. He trained in vasectomy during his residency and has literally traveled around the world for further study and experience in the no-scalpel technique. Now he teaches and writes about contraception and reproductive health procedures and practices with Dr. Doug Stein in the Vasectomy and Reversal Centers of Florida. In addition to his vasectomy practice in the US, Dr. Curington has performed and taught vasectomies internationally, including in the Philippines, Haiti, Kenya, and Mexico.
Dr. Robert Kulik is a gynecologist and Andrologyst. He works in Warsaw, Poland, dealing with male and female infertility and general gynecology and vasectomy. Vasectomy, for Dr. Kulik, is an important addition of complementary offer for women who cannot use conventional methods of contraception. Dr. Kulik graduated from medical school in 1992. Dr. Doug Stein in Tampa, Florida taught me the art of NSV.
Dr. Kulik attended WVD in Indonesia, 2015.
http://wazektomia.warszawa.pl
Dr. Sarah Miller is a family doctor and family planning specialist who provides primary care and family planning services throughout New York City. In addition to her own clinical work, Dr. Miller trains medical students, residents, and fellows through academic affiliations with Mount Sinai, Montefiore Medical Center, Beth Israel Medical Center, and the Institute for Family Health. In these settings, she teaches medical professionals procedural care and ways to integrate full-spectrum family planning services into the primary care setting. She is a board-certified family physician and a fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health. Her current passion is working to enhance male involvement in family planning.
http://newyorkvasectomy.com/about-us/
Dr. Simon Snook is the medical director of New Zealand’s largest vasectomy provider Snip Vasectomy Clinic. In addition to his interest in vasectomy, Dr. Snook works as a specialist in Sexual Health and Reproductive Medicine within the New Zealand public health sector. He graduated from the University of Birmingham, England in 1996 and holds post graduate qualifications in Family Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology and Family Planning. He lives on a small farm with his wife Kelly and a few too many children for a man dedicated to contraceptive care.
Dr. John Mc Cormick graduated from the Royal college of Surgeons in Ireland in 2001. He subsequently completed a postgraduate doctorate degree and worked in general surgery and as a primary care surgeon. He has been fortunate enough to dedicate his full time practise to no-scalpel vasectomy and he divides his time between clinics in Dublin and Cork, in Ireland.
john@vasectomyireland.ie
Alyssa Yee is a urological surgery resident in Brooklyn, NY who came to medicine through the reproductive health and justice route. A longstanding career in patient advocacy and sexual health/wellness inspired her choice of specialty and continues to inform her practice in the Men’s Health field. She strongly believes in engaging men in the family planning conversation and its role in promoting happy and healthy relationships. With her perspective as a resident physician, Alyssa hopes to expand vasectomy education and training for healthcare providers with the World Vasectomy Day team.
When not in the hospital, Alyssa is a part-time flying trapeze instructor and enthusiast. She loves cooking, hanging upside-down, dogs, fiber arts, painting, and travel.
ESGAR GUARIN, MD FAAFP. Family Medicine specialist with focused practice in Maternal, Child and Reproductive Health. He completed a Maternal and Child Health fellowship, and postgraduate public health training, at Brown University in Providence (RI). He’s a Fellow member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and an Associate Member of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. He’s been involved with Non Scalpel Vasectomy International (NSVI) since 2013, and has participated in missionary work in Haiti as well as World Vasectomy Day. He’s committed to increase the access to affordable and reliable vasectomy services in Iowa (US) through his SimpleVas® Vasectomy practice (www.simplevas.net) while he maintains an active Maternal and Child Health practice.
Dr. Guarin trained and did vasectomies in Mexico in 2017 and attended the first WVD planning meeting in Bogota, Colombia, in 2018.
Esgar Guarin, MD FAAFP
Dr. Jose Viladoms is a urologist from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Puigvert Foundation) and Head of Andrology at Teknon Medical Center, Barcelona. Introducer of the VSB (NSV- no-scalpel vasectomy) in Spain in 1993, after attending the first training course in Europe, with P.S.Li. Introducer of the VSBSA in Spain (NNNSV no-needle-no-scalpel vasectomy) in 2005 (With D.Stein)
Dr. Viladoms attended WVD 2017 in Mexico and accompanied us to Havana, Cuba in 2016.
Dr Justin Low graduated from Sydney University in 1987. He entered the Royal Australasian College of General Practitioner’s Family Medicine Program (FMP) in 1990 and obtained the FRACGP in 1993.
He has worked in Australia and the UK in various roles and trained in vasectomies in 2011. Since then he has performed vasectomies in 8 centres across the state of New South Wales in Australia performing around 1,300 vasectomies a year.
He has worked in Australia and the UK in various roles and trained in vasectomies in 2011. Since then he has performed vasectomies in 8 centres across the state of New South Wales in Australia performing around 1,300 vasectomies a year.
He has been involved in various medical aid and disaster relief campaigns over the years in Romania, Sri Lanka and Rwanda.
His current role is as National Director of Vasectomies at Marie Stopes Australia, the country’s largest vasectomy provider.
Dr. Johannensen is a board certified Ob/Gyn and family planning specialist. She is a Assistant Clinical Professor at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. She trains resident physicians and medical students from a number academic institutions and residency and fellowship training programs. She helped develop the Ryan Resident Family Planning training program at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and was formerly the director of Family Planning at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. She is a member of Physicians for Reproductive Health and the Society of Family Planning.
Dr. Johannensen was present for WVD 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda.
Dr. Jose Antonio Castro Garduño is Mexico’s national leader in the Ministry of Health for No Scalpel Vasectomy. For the past 26 years, he has worked as a master trainer and accreditor in all subjects related to men’s health. While working for the government, Dr. Castro has trained over 400 Mexico doctors, developed the country’s technical manual for NSV and has himself done over 15,000 vasectomies.
It was Dr. Castro Garduño who reached out to WVD in 2015 to invite us to participate in the Ministry’s annual vasectomy retreat and he has been a steady friend and supporter ever since.
SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH ADVISORY BOARD
John Townsend, PhD, is Director of Country Strategy at the Population Council. In this role, he provides leadership and support across the Population Council’s country offices with the aim to maximize the Council’s positive impact and ensure the organization’s knowledge is effectively influencing national policy and programs. He is responsible for the initiation, development, and monitoring of Council country strategies and provides technical and managerial guidance related to program priorities in Reproductive Health; Poverty, Gender, and Youth; and HIV/AIDS as well as support for the introduction of new health technologies in countries with Council presence.
Townsend joined the Council in 1984. He served as director of the Frontiers in Reproductive Health program; director of operations research programs in Asia and the Near East (1993–1998) in New Delhi; regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean in Mexico (1990–1993); director of operations research in Latin America and the Caribbean (1985–1990); country director for the Council’s Colombia office (1984); and was Vice President and Director of the Reproductive Health program from 2006 to 2017. In each of these roles, he supported policy development and designed and tested interventions that improved the coverage, quality, and sustainability of reproductive health service delivery systems, each with a focus on client rights.
Townsend joined the Council in 1984. He served as director of the Frontiers in Reproductive Health program; director of operations research programs in Asia and the Near East (1993–1998) in New Delhi; regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean in Mexico (1990–1993); director of operations research in Latin America and the Caribbean (1985–1990); country director for the Council’s Colombia office (1984); and was Vice President and Director of the Reproductive Health program from 2006 to 2017. In each of these roles, he supported policy development and designed and tested interventions that improved the coverage, quality, and sustainability of reproductive health service delivery systems, each with a focus on client rights.
Townsend participated in WVD 2017 in Mexico.
Susana is currently Senior Research and Evaluation Consultant at IPPF/WHR and as over 20 years of experience working on sexual and reproductive health and rights. She has been a consultant and advisor to international organizations such as UNICEF and UNFPA. She has taught and researched at the Psychology School of the Catholic University Andres Bello in Caracas, Venezuela with publications in gender, sexual and reproductive health, specifically around sexual violence, abortion and intimate violence. Susana has a Psychology degree and a Masters Social Psychology degree, both from Catholic University Andres Bello in Caracas, Venezuela.
Dr. Perera is the Global Medical Director of Marie Stopes International, a position that he has held since 2014. He holds a medical degree from the University of Colombo, a public health masters’ degree from the University of Manchester, and is in the dissertation phase of a PhD from Walden University, Minnesota. He has also been awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the UK Faculty of Public Health. He is a public health professional with 19 years' experience as a medical doctor and with 15 years’ experience in international healthcare. He has work experience in the field of reproductive healthcare in multiple countries across several continents, and has led quality improvement support to reproductive health service programmes at global level for the past 8 years.
Roy Jacobstein is a Senior Medical Advisor at IntraHealth International. He has authored many peer-reviewed papers on a range of FP/RH topics including contraceptive implants, vasectomy, female sterilization, fostering change in medical settings, and the importance of constructive male engagement. He has served as an expert technical advisor to the World Health Organization on the Medical Eligibility for Contraceptive Use and FP: A Global Handbook for Providers and to USAID’s Technical Advisory Group on High Impact Practices. A pediatrician and public health physician, Dr. Jacobstein has MD and MPH degrees from the University of Michigan and an MFA from the Warren Wilson Program for Writers. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Maternal and Child Health at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Public Health.
Dominick Shattuck’s work promotes human welfare through understanding and enhancing relationships between social systems and individual well-being in the community context. A PhD in Community Psychology, Dr. Shattuck has worked for the past 20 years in a wide array of sectors ranging from gender and masculinity, male-involvement to education and family planning and HIV and AIDS prevention, care and support. His range of experience has provided a strong understanding of the intersection between health, education and livelihoods interventions and their related outcomes.
Dr. Shattuck currently serves as Technical Director for the LIFT II project at FHI 360, where he is responsible for developing, implementing and evaluating dynamic research and evaluation activities that promote increase adherence and retention to HIV-related services. His primary work experiences are in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the United States where he works collaboratively with local government officials and community based organizations. Dr. Shattuck manages international teams, provides technical assistance and training to collaborating organizations, as well as, program, research and evaluation staff. He writes quantitative analysis plans and conducts statistical analyses that include multivariate and longitudinal data sets. He has provided statistical training to MOH officials in Ethiopia, developed training materials including study manuals and standardized operating procedures, and co-authored a process evaluation for the Key Populations Project in Kenya.
http://www.fhi360.org/experts/dominick-shattuck-phd
Dr Gianni Carlo Decastro is a Haitian medical doctor with a master in health administration who has been working in the health sector for more than fifteen years. He is result driven and team oriented health professional with strong and proven analytical, leadership, managerial and human resources skills. He also has strong incisive business acumen coupled with distinguished communication, interpersonal and organizational skills. His latest experience in PROFAMIL which is a leading player in Haiti in the field of sexual and reproductive health had exposed him to a certain reality regarding male engagement in Family planning. Since then he had become a strong advocate.
Pío Iván Gómez-Sánchez is the Senior Medical Advisor for IPPF/WHR and Chair of the FLASOG Committee on Women’s Sexual and Reproductive (Federation of Latin American Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology). Gómez-Sánchez is also a FIGO’s Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Rights Committee member. Gómez-Sánchez is a tenured professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Director of the Sexual and Reproductive Health Research team at the National University of Colombi. He is an International expert in Sexual and Reproductive Health with more than 120 scientific publications in peer reviewed journals in the fields of sexual and reproductive health, as well as eleven books and 35 chapter books.
Shreejana is an open-minded individual, responsible, intelligent and experienced professional with an extensive background working for young people's Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. She is also a resourceful project leader possess an excellent ability to motivate others, coupled with the ability to communicate comfortably at all levels, therefore ensuring an excellent working environment for all members of the team to perform at their bests, Have experience of more than 5 years volunteering with Family Planning Association of Nepal, one of the most recognized NGOs, in youth programs nationwide with human right-based approach which strongly focused on empowering young people, improving their sexual and reproductive health, information and education and gender equality in rural an urban sector of Nepal. Proven Leadership and conflict resolution expertise and skills with ability to quickly adapt and acquire technical knowledge and skills. Former President of Bhaktapur Youth Information Forum Library (BylFL), a youth led NGo in Bhaktapur, working on advocacy regarding sexual and reproductive health and rights of young people. Recognized Youth Champion of Asia Safe Abortion Parrnerihip (ASAP). Featured panel speaker on "Women, Nutrition & Maternal Health" session. Selected to represent Nepal as one of 100 global youth leaders in Women Deliver 2013.
Dr Solomon is an accomplished physician and consultant Gynecologist and Obstetrician with over 20 years’ experience in reproductive health (RH)/family planning (FP) and maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) service delivery. Dr. Solomon has over 5 years’ experience in quality assurance (QA)/quality improvement (QI) in health programs, operations research, health system strengthening, HIV/AIDS programming and integrated public health programs design, implementation and management. He successfully served as Project Director for the USAID‐funded Program Research for Strengthening Services (PROGRESS) and Preventive Technology Agreement (PTA) projects as implemented by FHI 360 in Kenya. Prior to this, he served as Associate Director and as Regional Medical Advisor providing RH/MNCH/FP support to FHI 360’s APHIA II and APHIA Plus Nuru ya Bonde projects in Kenya and other FHI 360 projects in the East, Central, Southern & West Africa region
Dr Solomon, holds a Master of Medicine degree in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree from the University of Nairobi. He is also fluent in both English and Kiswahili
Dr Solomon, holds a Master of Medicine degree in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree from the University of Nairobi. He is also fluent in both English and Kiswahili
Marta Royo is the Executive Director of Profamilia, a non-governmental organization in Colombia leader in sexual and reproductive health. For over 53 years, Profamilia has worked alongside the Colombian people to protect their sexual and reproductive rights.
Since 2012, Marta has led the way for deep organizational change in Profamilia, transforming it into an innovative organization with good business practices that fall in line with those practices of some of the best and most well-recognized companies in Colombia. Also, based on social enterprise models, she has developed new strategic lines of action in order to expand the social impact that Profamilia’s programs and initiatives have on Colombia, focusing especially among Colombia’s most vulnerable populations that experience greater inequality and inequity.
Marta's career has focused on the health sector within the framework for protecting the human rights of all people. Before joining Profamilia in 2012, Marta worked with Farmasanitas, one of the four main agencies of Organización Sanitas Internacional. She served as Business Manager there and succeeded at increasing the company’s financial and commercial revenue by 29%. Marta also has a Master’s in Social Economy from the University of Barcelona, a Master’s in Literature from New York University and a Bachelor’s in Economy and History from Dartmouth College.
After obtaining his medical degree from SUNY Buffalo and completing a pediatric residency, Dr. Sokal joined the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1978, and worked in Burkina Faso, West Africa for a total of five years, 1980-82 and 1985-87. After his work in Africa, Dr. Sokal joined FHI 360, where he worked for 25 years, focusing on HIV prevention and contraceptive research. He led FHI 360's research on clinical studies of vasectomy techniques, and was a member of the American Urological Association (AUA) Committee on Vasectomy Guidelines.
After retiring from FHI 360 in 2012, Dr. Sokal co-founded the Male Contraceptive Initiative, the only non-profit organization in the United States focused on developing new male contraceptives. He is an author of over 70 articles, speaks French fluently, and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Gillings School of Public Health, UNC/Chapel Hill.
Dr. Bulbul Sood is a public health professional with more than 45 years of experience and has been Jhpiego’s India Country Director since 2009. She is known for her experience in international health and development and has effectively demonstrated her ability to take programs forward in a holistic manner. She has strong technical expertise in reproductive health, extensive program management experience and is well-known in the field of family planning, maternal and reproductive health—both in India and internationally and has been successful in revitalizing the PPFP and introduction of PPIUCD in India which has led to paradigm shift in promotion of spacing methods in the country.
Dr Sood is a member of Family Planning Medical Eligibility decision making committee of WHO and USAID over last several years, member of the INFO Editorial Advisory Committee of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs, peer reviewer for Continuous Identification of Research Evidence (CIRE) system, which is a collaborative effort of WHO’s department of Reproductive Health and Research and CDC, Atlanta and is the peer-reviewer of the WHO’s Medical eligibility criteria for contraceptive use (MEC) and the Selected practice recommendations for contraceptive use (SPR) guidelines. Dr. Sood was Co-Chairperson of the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood in India (WRAI) from 2003 to 2009 and is TAG member of the Maternal Health Task Force of Harvard School of Public Health and member of RMNCH Coalition, Maternal Health Task force and Stillbirth Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Stan Becker is a professor in the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health. He obtained his BA in Public Affairs and MA in Demography at the University of Chicago and doctorate in demography at the Population Dynamics Department of JHU. He then worked overseas–three years at the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Reserach, Bangladesh, one year at L’Institut National d’etudes Demographiques in Paris and 3 years at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium, all as a demographer.
He teaches a course, Population Health and Development to undergraduates at Homewood. He also teaches the course “Couples and Reproductive Health” at the SPH and helps in the demographic methods sequence in which he taught for many years. He is current head of the Pop and Health faculty group in the department. His research interests are interventions with couples in reproductive health and estimation of fertility and mortality in developing countries.
Alison Hoover has worked with nonprofits around the world to empower youth, monitor sexual health and family planning programs, and contribute to advocacy on issues related to international sexual and reproductive health and rights. As Program Manager, she has developed, managed, monitored and scaled an eight-step framework for sustainable vasectomy programs in India, Mexico, Haiti and Rwanda.Before joining WVD, she worked in Asia with various global non-profits including UNFPA, USAID, PATH, PSI and FHI 360. She also co-founded a comprehensive sexuality education social enterprise that used profits from organic and ethically-sourced cotton products to fund education workshops across Vietnam. Prior to that, she worked on abortion research in Chile and child labor policy in Ghana.
TEAM
Sheila is Regional Manager, Africa at World Vasectomy Day where she works closely with the Executive Director and coordinates all other logistics in Africa. She has specialized knowledge in project management and evaluation, family and reproductive health and gender equity. Sheila has an Undergraduate degree in International Business. When she is not working with World Vasectomy Day, she works part-time with a community development NGO.
Lilian Cuberos is the World Vasectomy Day Administrative Director since 2020. She is a Clinical Microbiologist from the Colegio Mayor de Antioquia (Colombia) and an experienced researcher in molecular biology at the Universidad de Antioquia (Colombia) and vaccine development, with multiple publications, at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. She has been indirectly involved with WVD for several years through the support of her husband’s activities (Esgar Guarin, MD), but since 2020 she has been an active member of our staff. She is currently in charge of the administrative structure and day-to-day operations of the organization. She is an instrumental member of World Vasectomy Day and a leading force within the movement.
