FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WHAM Awards Quarter of a Million Dollars to Fuel Next-Generation Discoveries in Women’s Health 

Driving pioneering sex-based discoveries and setting the stage for others to follow

GREENWICH, Conn. (November 18, 2025) — WHAM (Women’s Health Access Matters) today announced the ten recipients of the 2025 WHAM Edge Awards, each receiving a $25,000 research grant to advance pioneering work on how biological sex influences health outcomes. These research grants provide critical early funding to emerging scientists studying sex-based differences in diseases that impact women differently, disproportionately, or exclusively across four key areas: autoimmune disease, brain health, cancer, and heart health. 

The WHAM Edge Awards were created to fill a critical gap in the funding landscape. Early-career researchers often face barriers to traditional grants that require preliminary data, limiting their ability to pursue bold, high-potential ideas. WHAM’s goal is to catalyze transformative discoveries by investing in promising work at its earliest stages—where a small spark can ignite lasting change. In 2025, the program expanded to include healthspan, bone and muscle health, novel approaches to women’s health conditions (including endometriosis, menopause, and PCOS), and innovative methodologies such as AI and secondary data analysis. 

“As federal funding tightens, researchers face growing challenges in advancing women’s health,” said Dr. Anula Jayasuriya, Chief Scientific Officer at WHAM. “Private and philanthropic investment can drive the next wave of discovery—translating early ideas into solutions that improve health outcomes for everyone.” 

2025 WHAM Edge Awards Recipients: 

• Dr. Brian Aguado, Assistant Professor of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego 

Project Title: Leveraging Digital Medicine and Biomaterial Tools to Determine Sex-Dependent Drug Combinations for Aortic Valve Stenosis. 

Project Summary: Aortic valve stenosis (AVS) happens when the heart’s main valve becomes stiff or narrow, making it harder for blood to flow out of the heart. It affects more than 1 in 8 adults over age 75, including more than 1.2 million women in the United States. The current standard of care for severe AVS is surgery to replace the valve. However, women are less likely than men to be diagnosed and receive these valve replacements, even when their disease is equally severe. Dr. Aguado will use artificial intelligence-based tools and lab-grown heart models to find drug combinations tailored to women and men with heart valve disease that can slow progression and help enhance precision medicine. 

• Drs. Amanda Artsen, Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, University of Pittsburgh and Amrita Sahu, Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh 

Project Title: A novel intervention to restore pelvic floor muscle function 

Project Summary: Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is a condition that affects up to 50% of women. A common cause is weak pelvic floor muscles, which allow the pelvic organs like the bladder, uterus, and rectum to drop out of their normal position. This weakening often happens with age or after vaginal childbirth and is the main cause of POP. In this study, Drs. Artsen and Sahu will examine whether childbirth-related injuries weaken pelvic floor muscles by disrupting the cells’ ability to repair and maintain energy. They will also test whether a novel vaginal hydrogel treatment can help restore these cells. 

• Dr. Domenica Berardi, Postdoctoral Researcher, Yale School of Public Health 

Project Title: Unravelling Hormonal, Metabolic and Immune Mechanisms of Colorectal Cancer in Postmenopausal Women 

Project Summary: Colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Although more men are diagnosed overall, women are more likely to develop right-sided colorectal cancer (RCC), a subtype that occurs in the right side of the colon and is linked to poorer outcomes, including reduced survival. Importantly, postmenopausal women are facing rising rates of RCC, suggesting that estrogen, particularly the hormone 17β-estradiol (E2), may play a protective role. To explore these mechanisms, Dr. Berardi will use female-only cell lines to examine how estrogen influences divergent colorectal cancer subtypes, shedding light on why RCC disproportionately affects postmenopausal women in the lab of Dr. Caroline Johnson at Yale School of Public Health. In addition, Dr. Berardi will study how estrogen may protect against certain types of colon cancer that are more common and deadly in postmenopausal women. 

• Dr. Erynn Christensen, Postdoctoral Researcher, The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, Northwell Health; Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University  

Project Title: Investigating the Relationship between Inflammation and Neurocognitive Functioning in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome 

Project Summary: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is a reproductive health disorder that affects women differently but commonly causes missed periods, unwanted hair growth, weight gain, difficulty getting pregnant, and cysts inside the ovaries. It usually starts when certain hormones in the body become too high, which throws off the normal signals between the brain and ovaries, disrupting the monthly cycle. PCOS affects up to 20% of women and is the leading cause of infertility. While primarily known for its reproductive implications, PCOS is increasingly recognized as an inflammation-causing disorder that impacts brain health and cognitive functions. Dr. Christensen’s study will aim to understand the complex relationship between inflammation across the menstrual cycle, cognitive abilities, and brain function in women with PCOS. 

• Ms. Alicia Gibbons, Doctoral Researcher, La Jolla Institute for Immunology 

Project Title: Building Better Cancer Immunotherapy for Breast Cancer 

Project Summary: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer, growing quickly and not responding to typical breast cancer treatments. It also disproportionately affects younger women and women of color. In recent years, a type of treatment called immune checkpoint blockers (ICB) has offered new hope, but the results have been mixed. Many women experience serious immune-related side effects, and doctors do not yet understand why. Ms. Gibbons’s study will examine whether the presence of a molecule called LPC 18:2 could help explain why patients respond differently to these new immune therapies. 

• Dr. Angela Jarman, Associate Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Davis 

Project Title: Sex & Gender-based Diagnostic Considerations for Acute Pulmonary Embolism 

Project Summary: Pulmonary embolism (PE), a blockage in the lungs caused by a blood clot, is the third leading cause of cardiovascular death in the United States. Importantly, women are tested more often for PE than men, yet they are 35-55% less likely to be diagnosed with PE. The primary objective of Dr. Jarman’s proposal is to explore sex differences in the diagnostic process for PE and evaluate the utility of sex-specific characteristics in PE testing.   

• Dr. Bonnie Lee, Postdoctoral Fellow, The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health 

Project Title: Disentangling Different Menopauses and Hormone Therapies to Improve Outcomes for Females at Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease 

Project Summary: Alzheimer’s disease is becoming more common around the world, with women accounting for about two-thirds of all cases. A gene variant called APOE ε4 increases the risk for both men and women, but women who carry this variant are at an even higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s. This increased vulnerability often appears around menopause, when estrogen levels decline. Furthermore, women who experience menopause early, whether naturally or through surgery, also tend to show more memory problems and brain changes linked to Alzheimer’s. Dr. Lee’s study will explore how different types of menopause and hormone therapy (specifically subcutaneous E2) affect memory and brain health in female mice with Alzheimer’s disease, both with and without the APOE ε4 gene. 

• Dr. Amparo Martínez Pérez, Postdoctoral Researcher, La Jolla Institute for Immunology 

Project Title: Understanding the Role of Immune Cells in Endometriosis 

Project Summary: Endometriosis is both common and devastating, affecting up to one in ten women worldwide, with few adequate treatment options. Importantly, endometriosis occurs when tissue that normally lines the uterus grows elsewhere in the body, causing inflammation, scarring, and pain. Immune cells called T cells normally help the body decide what to attack or tolerate, but if they react incorrectly, they may drive the inflammation and fertility problems seen in endometriosis. Menstrual blood contains many of these T cells, yet we know very little about what they are recognizing. Dr. Martínez Pérez’s study will build a model for studying the role of T cells in menstrual blood, uncovering the associations between these immune cells and Endometriosis.   

• Dr. Laura Pritschet, Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania 

Project Title: Mapping Pregnancy-Related Brain Trajectories Across the Perinatal Period 

Project Summary: Pregnancy is a time of profound hormonal and physiological change, experienced annually by more than 140 million women worldwide. Brain imaging studies have started to show how the brain adapts during the transition to motherhood, usually by comparing women’s brains before and after pregnancy. However, we still know very little about how the brain changes during pregnancy itself. In this study, Dr. Pritschet will leverage 25 years of existing clinical brain imaging data linked to medical health records to map the brain over pregnancy and postpartum in over 5,000 women. 

• Dr. Na-Young Rho, Postdoctoral Associate, Yale School of Medicine 

Project Title: Epigenome Reprogramming as a Strategy to Reverse Ovarian Aging 

Project Summary: As a woman’s ovaries age, her ability to have children declines while the risk for miscarriage increases. Some women experience early ovarian failure, leading to early menopause and higher risks for developing bone loss, heart disease, and memory problems. Therefore, ovarian aging is not just a fertility issue but a major women’s health concern. Despite the profound effect of ovarian aging on women worldwide, we still don’t know exactly why it happens or if it can be prevented. In this study, Dr. Rho will examine chemical changes, called methylation, in the BRCA1 gene to identify markers of ovarian aging. Then she will apply CRISPR technology, a gene-editing tool, to see if these changes can be reversed in the lab of Dr. Kutluk Oktay at Yale School of Medicine. 

“These awards are about more than recognition; they are about accelerating the next wave of discoveries that will change the future of women’s health,” said WHAM’s CEO & Founder Carolee Lee. “By supporting early-career researchers, WHAM is investing in solutions that can have a real impact on families, communities, and economies for generations to come.”  

The vast majority of serious diseases affect women differently or disproportionately—yet most research still treats men as the default. Without early investment, innovative, sex-based discoveries risk being lost before they begin. 

Awardees were selected by WHAM’s Scientific Advisory Board, which includes Dr. Hadine Joffe (Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women’s Hospital), Dr. Anula Jayasuriya (WHAM), Dr. Alyson McGregor (University of South Carolina Greenville), Dr. Pamela Moalli (UPMC), Dr. Basmah Safdar (Yale University), Dr. Katherine Sharkey, (University of South Carolina Greenville), and Dr. Nicole Woitowich (Northwestern University). 

For more information about WHAM and its initiatives, please visit www.whamnow.org. 

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About WHAM 

WHAM, Women’s Health Access Matters, a non-profit 501c3, was founded in 2020 by global business entrepreneur Carolee Lee.  WHAM has established itself as a neutral convener, connecting leaders across sectors to advance healthcare innovations and reshape the women’s health landscape. WHAM’s initiatives, from laboratory research to real-world implementation, are designed to create sustainable impact and improve health outcomes for all. The WHAM Investment Collaborative, alongside WHAM’s renowned Research Collaborative and the soon-to-launch Life Sciences Collaborative, is focused on accelerating the development and adoption of groundbreaking healthcare solutions. 

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