Meet GBSI's Board of Directors

​Marti Perhach ~ GBSI Cofounder and CEO

Marti cofounded GBSI in 2006 after serving as President for GBSI's sister organization, The Jesse Cause, since 1999.  Marti's daughter, Rose, was stillborn in 1998 due to group B strep.  (Rose's story can be read HERE.)

Marti enjoys organizing conference exhibits and mailing out GBS brochures so parents know how to help protect their babies from GBS.  Her background is Hotel and Restaurant Management with a minor in Marketing from Cal Poly Pomona. 

To read more about GBSI's history, please click HERE.  

James A. McGregor, MDCM

Dr. James A. McGregor is a graduate of Dartmouth College and McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine and has served as Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology practicing at UCLA, USC and the University of Colorado Hospital.

Dr. McGregor practiced as a fully engaged obstetrician and gynecologist for forty years at Cedars-Sinai, Los Angeles County, Tucson Medical Center and University of Colorado Hospitals until his retirement in 2010. Now he shares his expertise with Group B Strep International through giving presentations and talking to providers and parents at perinatal conference exhibits around the world!

He continues to make leading contributions to the areas of infectious disease, Group B Strep disease prevention and prematurity prevention as well as pregnancy/breastfeeding nutrition and optimizing prenatal and early age brain development learning capacity and school preparation. 

Donna Russell, MHA

Josh Jones ~ GBSI CFO

Josh Jones is a computer programmer, serial entrepreneur, VC, husband and father. He founded DreamHost Web Hosting while in college in 1996, then got into Bitcoin in 2010 and startup investing in 2013.

​He now runs HMC INQ, his alma mater's startup incubator, and is on the board of Represent.us, The Aquarium of the Pacific, and (very soon) Harvey Mudd College.

​David M. Aronoff, MD, FIDSA, FAAM

David Aronoff, MD, FIDSA, FAAM is the Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and the founding Director of the Vanderbilt Pre3 Initiative (Preventing adverse Pregnancy outcomes and Prematurity). He is also the Addison B Scoville, Jr Chair in Medicine.

​He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology from Indiana University and his Medical Degree at Tufts University in Boston. He completed internship and residency training, including a year as Chief Resident, in Internal Medicine at Vanderbilt University. 

Dr. Aronoff stayed at Vanderbilt to complete a clinical fellowship in Infectious Diseases and a research fellowship in Clinical Pharmacology. He then joined the faculty in Infectious Diseases at the University of Michigan where he also completed a research postdoctoral fellowship in Immunology.
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He returned to Vanderbilt in 2013 as Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Medicine with a secondary faculty appointment in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology, & Immunology. He is also a faculty member in the Vanderbilt Center for Medicine, Health and Society and an Adjunct faculty member in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Meharry Medical College.

The Aronoff Lab studies reproductive immunology and host-microbial interactions in the context of pregnancy, with a focus on Group B Streptococcus (GBS) infections. Primary areas of focus include mechanisms of disease pathogenesis involved in GBS infections causing chorioamnionitis, preterm birth, stillbirth and neonatal sepsis.

​His global health work includes collaborative projects in Brazil, Jordan and South Africa. He has received numerous governmental and non-governmental research grants, including support from the National Institutes of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency, The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Burroughs Wellcome Fund, The March of Dimes and the Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity & Stillbirth. 

GBSI's Past Board Members

John MacDonald ~ Cofounder

John cofounded GBSI in 2006 after serving as Vice President for GBSI's sister organization, The Jesse Cause. John's daughter, Hannah, was stillborn in 2003 due to group B strep.  (Hannah's story can be read HERE.)

James C. Caillouette, MD

Dr. Caillouette won numerous awards in the field of medicine. He was a member of the Nu Sigma Nu Honor Society. As an obstetrician-gynecologist in Pasadena., he delivered thousands of babies and was president of the Pacific Coast Ob-Gyn Society, a group he truly enjoyed his entire career. Jim was an avid inventor and was issued 33 patents on a wide variety of medical products and devices. He authored and coauthored 35 scientific papers and has been a consultant to many companies.

Diep Nguyen, MD

Dr. Nguyen is an OB/GYN and inventor of the kickTrak™ kick counter, a handheld device to help pregnant women track their baby's movements and be able to work with their doctors to identify potential problems before their baby's heart rate and future well-being are affected.