Meet Our Team

Director

The Office of Research Administration
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
University of Rochester
(585) 275-9182

Shanna Swan, PhD

Professor and Associate Chair for Research, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Shanna H. Swan, Ph.D. is Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Director of the Center for Reproductive Epidemiology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. Dr. Swan is also a Professor in Environmental Medicine. She received an M.S. in Biostatistics from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of California-Berkeley. From 1981 to 1998, she served as Chief of the Reproductive Epidemiology Section at the California Department of Health Services.

Dr. Swan is known for her work on the impact of environmental exposures on male and female reproductive health and has served on the National Academy of Science's Committee on Hormone-Related Toxicants. Since 1998, she has been Principal Investigator of the Study for Future Families, a multi-center pregnancy cohort study examining environmental causes of geographic variation in reproductive health endpoints in men, women and children. An excellent harpsichord player, Dr. Swan was also a professional actress as a child and graduated from the High School of the Performing Arts in New York City.

ORA Team Members

Wendy Roemer, M.S.

Research Administrator
(585) 273-5734
Send Email to Wendy

Wendy Roemer is the Research Administrator for the department. Her background is in Research Science (she’s an Ecologist!), however she spent the last three years as a Grant Administrator at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute working with Immunologists. Wendy facilitates the grant process for all Ob/Gyn faculty from the first spark of an idea to the final document hand-off to the sponsor. She is enthusiastic about finding funding for all faculty interested in research. She is also responsible for the post-award management of grants, contracts, and clinical studies. Please feel free to stop by or call if you have any questions or concerns. A mother of one with one on the way, Wendy is a maniac knitter.

Ken Edell

Database Administrator
(585) 275-9182
Send Email to Ken

Ken Edell is the Database Administrator for the department. He has been with the OB/GYN department for nine years and is responsible for managing the birth-related databases which are used for quality assessment and research purposes. In his spare time, Ken likes juggling, playing guitar, and swing dancing.

Meena Elumalai

Information Analyst
(585) 273-1910
Send Email to Meena

Meena Elumalai is the department’s Information Analyst. With a background in mathematics, computer science, biostatistics, Meena is a great asset to the department’s researchers. She is currently working on projects with residents, researchers in the department and on Dr. Swan’s project, Study for Future Families using SAS.

Fan Liu, M.S.

Database Manager
(585) 275-9187
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Fan Liu, M.A. is the Database Manager for the Center for Reproductive Epidemiology. Upon the completion of his dissertation, he will receive a Ph.D. in Psychometrics from the University of Missouri-Columbia. A published researcher, Fan is interested in the ability of Chinese speakers in the area of mathematics. Since 1999, he has been collaborating with Dr. Swan on her projects, especially the Study for Future Families. His knowledge of SAS programming and statistics are an extremely valuable part of the work of the CRE. On a personal note, Fan has three children and is an excellent chef.

Rebecca Rowley

Administrative Assistant
(585) 275-9182
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Rebecca A. Rowley is the Administrative Assistant for CRE, ORA and WRHR. Trained as a Biochemist and hoping to engage in further study, she has spent the last few years working in various academic support positions. She is glad to be a part of the exciting work going on in the OB/GYN department and helping ensure that everything runs smoothly. Rebecca enjoys outdoor activities including hiking, camping, skiing, birding and single-track mountain biking.