NICHQ Names Zsakeba Henderson as Senior Health Advisor
BOSTON- Dr. Zsakeba Henderson will join the National Institute for Children’s Health Quality as a Senior Medical Advisor, where she will advise NICHQ President and CEO Scott D. Berns, MD, MPH, FAAP, to help advance the work of the organization to ensure every child achieves their optimal health. Dr. Henderson will also advise the VP of Health Equity Innovation, the VP for Engagement & Community Partnerships, and serve as a chair for the National Network of Perinatal Quality Collaboratives (NNPQC) Health Equity Community of Practice, which will serve as an active learning space for NNPQC partners who are interested and focused on integrating health equity in their work to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality.
“Dr. Henderson’s extensive clinical knowledge coupled with her expertise in maternal and child health will be invaluable to NICHQ,” said Berns. “We are delighted to welcome such a proven health leader who’s been dedicated to finding equitable solutions to the maternal and child health crisis. As we continue prioritizing our equity work here at NICHQ, Dr. Henderson’s advisement will be significant.”
“I’m excited to be working with NICHQ because the organization has been a longtime partner since the beginning of our initial work around the development of the National Network of Perinatal Quality Collaboratives,” Henderson said. “It’s such a great opportunity to acknowledge and highlight the upstream effect of what happens to pregnant people and the importance of how it impacts infant and child health, and I think NICHQ is in a really great position to highlight the importance of not removing birthing people from the dyad when thinking about not only the immediate health of the infant but the long-term health beyond the first year.”
Zsakeba Henderson, MD, FACOG
Prior to taking on this new consulting role at NICHQ, Dr. Henderson most recently served as the Senior Vice President of MCH Impact and Interim Chief Medical Officer at March of Dimes, providing strategic direction and clinical expertise across the organization to help end the maternal and infant health crisis, including the direction of March of Dimes Mission programs and services, professional and patient education, and government affairs and advocacy. She is a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist, and previously developed and led the program in support of state-based perinatal quality collaboratives at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Reproductive Health, including leading the establishment of the National Network of Perinatal Quality Collaboratives (NNPQC).
Dr. Henderson also served as an Executive Committee Member and the Obstetric Co-Chair for the NNPQC. She received her BS degree in Biochemistry from Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama, and her medical degree from Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. She also completed her internship and residency at Harvard, at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Massachusetts General Hospital Integrated Residency Program in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Henderson subsequently entered the Epidemic Intelligence Service at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the Division of STD Prevention. Her work and experience includes program development and research in the areas of perinatal quality improvement to reduce maternal and infant morbidity and mortality, prevention of preterm birth, and the development of robust partnerships and networks to improve population-level maternal and infant health outcomes.
Read more about all of the members of NICHQ’s team.
