Who We Are

Diana N. Carvajal, MD, MPH (she/her/ella), Director of DEIA and Strategic Planning

Diana Carvajal is a practicing family physician and health services researcher in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where she is also the RHEDI director, focusing on teaching the integration of full spectrum, patient-centered SRH including abortion care. In her research, Diana works to address reproductive health inequities for the most marginalized communities and employs lenses of Reproductive Justice and Intersectionality to understand how clinicians can best support and communicate with patients about reproductive health. She works with the RHEDI team to develop and implement methods and programs to diversify the Family Medicine abortion provider workforce as a means to begin to address health inequity.

Casandra Cashman, MD (she/her), Director of Program Development

Dr. Cashman focuses on connecting and mentoring medical students and residents (particularly those in areas with significant abortion restrictions), RHEDI program development and technical assistance, and curriculum development. She is a family medicine physician with a focus on sexual and reproductive healthcare. She is a graduate of Wells College, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Halifax Medical Center Family Medicine Residency and the University of Michigan Women’s Health Fellowship. Her clinical practice includes abortion, contraception, colposcopy & LEEP, telemedicine reproductive healthcare services, precepting and training family medicine residents, and care for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. Until 2021 she also provided newborn nursery, inpatient adult, and obstetrics services at a family medicine residency.

Erica Chong, MPH (she/her), Executive Director

Erica is a researcher and program manager who has spent the last 20+ years working on SRH issues in both the U.S. and in international settings. She has served as RHEDI’s Executive Director since 2020. Prior to joining RHEDI, Erica focused on making abortion more accessible and acceptable through her work at Gynuity Health Projects. In particular, Erica’s work contributed to the evidence base on the safety and feasibility of telemedicine abortion, the efficacy of medication abortion at higher gestational ages, and the lack of association between medication abortion and clostridial infection. Erica holds a Masters in Public Health from Columbia University.

Ian Lague, MS (he/him), Curriculum and Communications Director

Ian is a medical educator and academic editor who has managed RHEDI’s curriculum design and communications strategy since 2017. His work is focused on interactive learning tools that support patient autonomy and address reproductive injustice and structural inequity in medicine. He also supports RHEDI’s training, research, and DEIA programming. He received a Masters in Journalism from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, with a concentration in health reporting and medical ethics. He is coauthor, with Ronald Munson, of the medical ethics textbook Intervention and Reflection: Basic Issues in Bioethics, 10th edition.

Susan Ricci, BS, BA (she/her), Program Administrator

Susan received a Bachelor of Science in Business and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Mercy College. Susan supports RHEDI’s programs, administration and the Access Listserv, a private discussion group for family medicine clinicians, learners, and others who provide abortion/sexual and reproductive healthcare within the family medicine community.

Aleza Summit, MPH (she/her), Director of Research and Evaluation

Aleza has worked with RHEDI on Research and Evaluation since 2013. Her work centers on examining the effects of routine opt-in abortion training in family medicine, both during residency and after residency graduation. In addition, Aleza’s research has focused on exploring patient and provider perspectives on the integration of abortion and other sexual and reproductive health services into primary care. She particularly enjoys leveraging research and evaluation data to think strategically about how to support and grow RHEDI’s work. Aleza holds a Masters in Public Health from Columbia University.

Kentra Tillman ((s)he/they), Web Management

Kentra is a social entrepreneur working in the service of essential missions. With more than a decade of experience in data and web management, they focus on the maintenance and deployment of RHEDI’s new website as well as supporting the team’s communications efforts. Kentra is a graduate of the University of Virginia’s cognitive science undergraduate program.