Our Team
Our team brings together experienced counselors, healthcare professionals, researchers, and community partners who are dedicated to supporting healthy pregnancies and families.
We believe compassionate care works best when it is guided by evidence, shaped by lived experience, and delivered with respect. Our team brings together expertise in public health impact research, cutting-edge research in the science of cessation, maternity care, human subjects protection and counselling for pregnant people and their families.
Tessa Crume, PhD, MSPH
Dr. Crume developed the Strong Start program to introduce innovative, evidence-informed approaches to cessation support for pregnant individuals, addressing longstanding gaps in accessible, compassionate care. Strong Start was developed in partnership with the clinical expertise of Megan Lagueux and the Colorado Prenatal Nicotine and Cannabis Cessation Advisory Group to ensure it reflects real-world clinical needs and community priorities.
She is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Her work focuses on improving health outcomes for pregnant individuals and families through compassionate, evidence-informed care. At a national- and international level, Dr. Crume has demonstrated leadership and scholarship around research of the drivers of maternal tobacco, nicotine and cannabis use, the functional consequences of in utero exposure to these substances and cessation strategies to help pregnant people achieve cessation.
Principal Investigator
Megan Lagueux, ScM, BSN, RN, TTS
Ms. Lagueux is a perinatal nurse with experience in the full-spectrum perinatal care, including pregnancy complications, postpartum recovery, lactation, and perinatal mental health. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Colorado Perinatal Care Quality Collaborative (CPCQC), where she contributes expertise in data collection and quality improvement initiatives aimed at reducing pregnancy-related complications and improving perinatal mental health statewide. In partnership with Dr. Crume, they have developed Strong Start as a clinically grounded, responsive support program aligned with trauma-informed, non-stigmatizing best practices across the perinatal continuum.
Clinical Director
Program ManagerTheresa Anderson, MS
Ms. Anderson brings nearly a decade of experience in regulatory compliance and program management. She overseas complex, multi-partner initiatives, including fiscal and regulatory compliance, partner communications, staff supervision, and technical training support. Protection of human subjects and privacy is a cornerstone of the Strong Start program.
Perla Crank, MS
Counselor Ms. Crank is a Spanish-speaking bilingual counselor, currently completing a PhD in mental health support. She brings linguistic and cultural humility to engage Spanish-speaking individuals in the Strong Start program.
Counselor Valerie Peterson, TTS
Trained as a social worker, Ms. Peterson has experience providing counseling, case management, crisis intervention and life-skills development as a case manager at Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. Ms. Peterson has been providing perinatal substance use counselling to pregnant individuals and their supportive partners.