Virtual Bloom 2021: Meet the Experts!

We are so excited to have you join us (virtually) for our 7th annual Bloom: Mini Conference for Moms. Although we truly wish we could host you face-to-face, we really enjoyed the virtual format in 2020 and we look forward to “seeing” you in this way again in 2021! This year’s Co-Hosts are University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital, University of Iowa Health Care, The Bails Team Urban Acres Real Estate and CHOMP Delivery. We are so grateful for their support in bringing this wonderful event to all of the moms in our community, especially during a time where it is harder than ever to find these resources and connect with helpful organizations and experts from our community.

We hope you can join us from your couch, your bed, your car, or wherever you may be on Thursday, May 20th for an amazing evening filled with virtual vendors, swag bags for the first 50 mamas to snag their tickets (check out the event page for more details!), TONS of giveaways, and our absolute favorite part: the expert panel.

We are so, so grateful to these incredible experts from our community who have agreed to share their knowledge with us. Please note: each panelist will be joining the event LIVE during their video portion, so if you have questions for them, you can comment on the video and they will be there to answer!

Without further ado, here are the 2021 Bloom Panelists. Special thanks to each and every one of them for giving their time and joining us virtually this year!

Meet the Virtual Bloom 2021 Panelists

Ana Cary, MD

Benjamin Davis, MD, PhD

Benjamin Davis is a Clinical Assistant Professor in Allergy/Immunology at the University of Iowa. He completed medical school at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, then went on to receive a PhD in Immunology, completed residency and fellowship training all at the University of Cincinnati/Cincinnati Children’s. His main interests are eosinophilic and mast cell diseases. His more specific focus is food allergy and eosinophilic esophagitis. He has an extensive publication history on eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). He sees value in further understanding these disorders and providing a more comprehensive approach for his patients. His current projects include formation of a multidisciplinary EoE clinic with pediatric gastroenterology, formation of a multidisciplinary asthma clinic with adult pulmonology and development of allergy/immunology clinical trials group. In his free time, he enjoys spending time outdoors with his family which includes two boys, ages 4 and 7, and a goldendoodle.  Additionally, he has soccer in his blood and enjoys coaching youth soccer.

Alice Fridman-Glass, Ph.D.

Alice is a licensed psychologist who works in private practice at Anderson, Arnold, & Partners in downtown Iowa City. She does therapy with teens and adults for a wide variety of concerns, such as depression, anxiety, stress, self-esteem, grief, trauma, identity and adjustment concerns, and ADHD. She also does evaluations for ADHD, learning disorders, and psychological concerns like anxiety and depression. Alice graduated from Carleton College in Minnesota and the Counseling Psychology doctoral program at the University of Iowa. She loves food, crossword puzzles, game nights, being outside, and watching her kids play and grow.

Alta Medea-Peters

At a young age, Ms. Medea-Peters started her work to end domestic violence and build resources for victim-survivors. She has continued this work for over 20 years by strengthening her community and supporting those most vulnerable through direct action, volunteerism, service, and advocacy. She officially began her work with the Domestic Violence Intervention Program (DVIP) first as a volunteer, then a board member, and has served as Director of Community Engagement for DVIP since 2017. She lives in Iowa City, IA with her husband, two hilarious sons, an overly active dog, and two fluffy cats.

Lauren Mulford, Injury Prevention

Lauren Mulford is the Injury Prevention and Community Outreach Program Coordinator for the University of Iowa Steady Family Children’s Hospital Safety Store. Lauren manages the Safety Store, which offers products that reduce or prevent injury and coordinates outreach for the Injury Prevention programs, including but not limited to ATV Safety, Bicycle Safety, and Child Passenger Safety. Lauren is black and gold through and through – born and raised in Iowa City, a proud UI alum, and now employee. Lauren recently joined the Mom Club when her daughter, Peyton, entered the world, and now “keeping kids safe” is not just her full-time gig but 24/7 gig! Everything she has learned professionally has truly come full circle. Lauren loves all things community outreach and is excited to get back out in the community to educate parents and children how they can stay safe and out of harm’s way!

Kim Richards-Passini, DPT

Kim graduated from Iowa State University in 2015 with a degree in Kinesiology prior to moving to Iowa City to complete her Doctorate of Physical Therapy at the University of Iowa in 2017. She has been working at Team Iowa Physical Therapy for the past three years, working primarily with musculoskeletal injuries. Kim works with women who are pre- and postnatal, as well as treating sports injuries and post surgical patients. She is also trained in Integrative Dry Needling. In her free time, Kim enjoys instructing at Barre3 and taking walks with her husband and dog!

Kimberly Sprague, ARNP, CNM, MSN

Kimberly Sprague is a Certified Nurse Midwife at the University of Iowa. Kimberly received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Marycrest Teikyo University in Davenport, Master of Science in Nursing Research from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, and her CNM from Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing in Hyden, Kentucky. Kimberly considers her role as a midwife – to share in a family’s pregnancy and birth – a privilege. Kimberly has been a midwife for 28 years. Although her own babies are grown, she lives on a hobby farm and enjoy many spring babies every year. Her daughter once told me, “Mom, you taught me, all life is precious.” She was counting baby guppies being born.

Marcy Willier, Realtor at The Bails Team at Urban Acres

As you know, we are big fans of all of the awesome realtors at The Bails Team, and Marcy is no exception.

When you work with Marcy, what you see is what you get. Simple and straightforward is the way this Iowa City born-and-raised REALTOR® does business. After graduating from the University of Iowa, she decided to stay in the Iowa City area and has lived in surrounding communities ever since.

Marcy has a passion for helping veterans. It’s taken her all the way to Washington D.C. on two Honor Flight trips as a guardian, allowed her to serve as a local American Legion Auxiliary President, and given her the honor of serving as a board member for the Coralville Lake Veteran’s Trail Memorial.

If you don’t have your tickets to Bloom yet, get them ASAP! Not only will you have access to all of these amazing panelists and the resources they have to offer, but you will also meet some of our favorite local organizations and shops, and you’ll have an opportunity to win one of the super fun giveaways that we have for you!

To learn more about the virtual event logistics and to see a sneak peek at giveaways, RSVP to the Bloom Facebook event and view the description and discussion thread.