Leadership

Sarah Verbiest, DrPH, MSW, MPH, is an advocate, leader, researcher, trainer, teacher, and program director with a career dedicated to addressing disparities in maternal and infant health outcomes, improving system supports for families, and advancing health justice and equity for people in their reproductive years.

Dr. Verbiest holds several leadership positions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, including executive director of the Collaborative for Maternal and Infant Health in the School of Medicine, former co-director of the National Maternal Health Learning and Innovation Center in the School of Public Health, and director of the Jordan Institute for Families in the School of Social Work, where she also serves as a clinical professor.

She is a co-founder of the 4th Trimester Project and has led national initiatives such as the Show Your Love Initiative (formerly the National Preconception Health and Health Care Initiative). Dr. Verbiest has authored more than 40 journal articles and edited four books over the past eight years. She is a founding member of the Perinatal Health Equity Collective and co-chairs the perinatal health committee of the NC Child Fatality Task Force alongside Belinda Pettiford.