THE WHAM COLLABORATIVE

All of our work is supported by a diverse panel of experts—leading scientists, researchers and medical professionals working together to improve women’s health.

WHAM Collaborative members work together to:

Identify and prioritize key questions for women’s health research.
Develop studies, collaborate on research, share insights and information.
Generate interest and momentum in the research community to focus on women’s health.

Collaborative Members

COLLABORATIVE LEADERSHIP

  • Elizabeth (Beth) Garner, MD, MPH

    Strategic Advisor to The WHAM Research Collaborative Immediate Past President, American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA)

    Elizabeth (Beth) Garner, MD, MPH

    Strategic Advisor to The WHAM Research Collaborative Immediate Past President, American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA)
    I am a seasoned, strategic-minded executive with a career-long focus on addressing unsolved issues and conditions that affect physical and mental health and quality of life. Born and raised in Nigeria, I bring a global world view to my work in both the corporate and non-profit worlds. With well over a decade of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, I have expansive expertise in drug development, including clinical trial design and conduct, US and ex-US regulatory affairs, FDA Advisory Committee strategy and execution, commercial launch planning, medical affairs, and pharmacovigilance. I am highly skilled in the medical and clinical assessment of early- and late-stage product candidates.

    My most recent was as the Chief Scientific Officer, Ferring US. Ferring is a leader in reproductive medicine and maternal health, uro-oncology and in specialty areas within gastroenterology, including microbiome therapeutics and orthopedics.

    Prior to joining Ferring in 2022, I was the Chief Medical Officer of ObsEva, a biotechnology company focused on addressing serious unmet needs in women’s health. From 2014 to 2019, I was Chief Medical Officer of Agile Therapeutics, where I led the Phase 3 clinical development of Twirla®, Agile’s low-dose contraceptive patch.

    I am the Board Chair of NUA Surgical, a start-up company developing solutions for maternal health. I am also a member of the Boards of Directors (BOD) of Kezar Life Sciences (KZR), a publicly traded company developing novel therapies for autoimmune diseases and cancer, and Sermonix Pharmaceuticals, developing targeted therapies for breast cancer. I am the Immediate-Past President and serve on the BOD of the American Medical Women’s Association, whose mission is to advance women in medicine, advocate for equity, and ensure excellence in health care.

    I have extensive experience as a media spokesperson and am a frequent panelist and speaker on a range of topics including women’s health and women’s careers and leadership. I was a 2018 honoree at the Executive Women of New Jersey’s Salute to the Policy Makers gala, which recognizes executive women leaders across all industries. I am also a 2019 and 2023 awardee of the PharmaVoice 100 Most Inspiring Individuals in the life sciences industry and am the 2022 recipient of the Women in Science Award from the American Medical Women’s Association.

  • Hadine Joffe, MD, MSc

    Founding Member and Lead Scientific Advisor with The WHAM Collaborative Executive Director, Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health Research, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Vice Chair for Psychiatry Research, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Paula A. Johnson Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the Field of Women’s Health, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

    Hadine Joffe, MD, MSc

    Founding Member and Lead Scientific Advisor with The WHAM Collaborative Executive Director, Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health Research, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Vice Chair for Psychiatry Research, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Paula A. Johnson Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the Field of Women’s Health, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
    Dr. Hadine Joffe is an internationally recognized women’s health researcher, educator, and clinician. In her research, Dr. Joffe is dedicated to advancing the understanding, treatment, and consequences of symptoms resulting from reproductive hormone changes in the brain, with a particular focus on women who have breast cancer. As the Director of the Connors Center, Dr. Joffe supports faculty and trainees in forging new ground in women’s health research and works to ensure that research translates to patient care and is aligned with women’s health advocacy priorities.
    Video

    Dr. Hadine Joffe, WHAM Collaborative Member

    Dr. Hadine Joffe is WHAM!’s lead scientific research partner and the Executive Director of the Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

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  • Nicole Woitowich, PhD

    Executive Director, The WHAM Collaborative Research Assistant Professor of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University Center Administrator, Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Northwestern University

    Nicole Woitowich, PhD

    Executive Director, The WHAM Collaborative Research Assistant Professor of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University Center Administrator, Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Northwestern University
    Dr. Nicole Woitowich focuses on the evaluation of the biomedical research enterprise through various lenses, such as the integration of science outreach into existing research infrastructure, and the advancement of women and minorities in STEM and medicine to help bridge the gap in women’s health research. As Associate Director of the Women’s Health Research Institute at Northwestern University, Dr. Woitowich is a fierce advocate for expanded women’s health research, putting a spotlight on the effects of sex and gender on health.
    Video

    Dr. Nicole Woitowich, WHAM Collaborative Member

    Dr. Nicole Woitowich is the Center Administrator at the Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences at Northwestern University.

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  • Brian Aguado, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Bioengineering University of California San Diego Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine

    Brian Aguado, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Bioengineering University of California San Diego Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine
    Dr. Brian Aguado (Twitter: @BrianAguado) is currently an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at UC San Diego, where his laboratory research is focused on studying sex differences in cardiovascular disease using biomaterial technologies. Dr. Aguado completed his BS degree in Biomechanical Engineering from Stanford University and his MS and PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University. He also obtained his certificate in Management for Scientists and Engineers from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship in Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. Dr. Aguado has received numerous awards to support his research, including the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Postdoctoral Enrichment Program award, the NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, the American Heart Association Career Development Award, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Science Diversity Leadership Award. Dr. Aguado currently serves on the editorial advisory boards for the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A and GEN Biotechnology. Dr. Aguado also co-founded LatinXinBME (Twitter: @LatinXinBME), a new social media initiative dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive community of Latinx biomedical engineers and scientists to support each other personally and professionally through their careers. For his efforts, he was named one of the 100 Most Inspiring Latinx Scientists in America by Cell Press and received the Biomaterials Diversity Award for Young Investigator from the Biomaterials journal.

  • Marianna Alperin, MD, MS

    Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery Associate Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, UC San Diego

    Marianna Alperin, MD, MS

    Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery Associate Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, UC San Diego
    Marianna Alperin, MD, MS, is a female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery expert who specializes in diagnosing and treating pelvic floor conditions, including urinary and fecal incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse.

    As an associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, Dr. Alperin instructs medical students and residents and trains surgeons during their female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery fellowship.

    Dr. Alperin has an active research program, supported by the National Institutes of Health, which focuses on the pathophysiology of pelvic floor disorders.

    She completed a fellowship in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine's Magee-Womens Hospital, and a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Harvard Medical School's Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Alperin earned her medical degree from St. Louis University School of Medicine. She holds a master's degree in clinical research and design from the University of Pittsburgh.

  • Wendy Bennett, MD, MPH

    Associate Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Co-Director, Johns Hopkins Center for Women’s Health, Sex, and Gender Research

    Wendy Bennett, MD, MPH

    Associate Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Co-Director, Johns Hopkins Center for Women’s Health, Sex, and Gender Research
    Dr. Wendy Bennett’s research focus is on weight management and obesity control and studied behavioral interventions to promote healthy weight gain in pregnancy and postpartum weight loss. As the Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Women’s Health, Sex, and Gender Research, Dr. Bennett is committed to identifying and ultimately eliminating the biomedical research gaps for in women’s health.

  • Roberta Brinton, PhD

    Director, UA Center for Innovation in Brain Science, University of Arizona Health Sciences

    Roberta Brinton, PhD

    Director, UA Center for Innovation in Brain Science, University of Arizona Health Sciences
    Dr. Roberta Brinton is a leading neuroscientist in the field of Alzheimer’s disease, with a particular focus on the aging female brain and regenerative therapeutics. Of the 5.7 million Americans with Alzheimer’s disease, two-thirds are women. Dr. Brinton’s research investigates the sex-based differences in Alzheimer’s disease to better understand why women are disproportionately affected and help lead the medical community to precision medicine for all patients afflicted. Dr. Brinton’s research is focused on the mechanisms, including sex-based differences, underlying late-onset Alzheimer’s and developing therapeutics to prevent, delay and cure the disease.

  • Rachel Buckley, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital

    Rachel Buckley, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital
    I am a cognitive neuroscientist and Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School who studies the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. My research focuses primarily on sex differences in Alzheimer's disease risk, with a particular interest in women's health. I am an NIH-NIA K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award recipient, and an NIH DP2 New Innovator Awardee. I also serve as the incoming Chair of the Sex and Gender Differences in Alzheimer's Disease Professional Interest Area (PIA) for the Alzheimer's Association. My research has been published in top scientific journals, including JAMA Neurology, Annals of Neurology, Alzheimer's & Dementia and Neurology.

  • Larry Cahill, PhD

    Professor, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine

    Larry Cahill, PhD

    Professor, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine
    Dr. Larry Cahill is a is a long-standing leader in the areas of brain and memory, and among the world’s foremost leaders on the topic of sex influences on the brain. In 2017 he edited the first issue of any neuroscience journal devoted to the topic (in The Journal of Neuroscience Research). He was instrumental in the 2016 adoption by the NIH of the landmark Sex as a Biological Variable (SABV) policy mandating consideration of sex influences in all NIH funded research. He is an internationally regarded investigator and speaker whose work has been highlighted often in the press, including in the New York Times, London Times, Washington Post, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, PBS, CNN, and 60 Minutes.
    Video

    Preview: Sex Matters

    Despite the fact that many other drugs are also metabolized differently by men and women, Ambien is the only drug on the market for which the FDA has different suggested doses based on sex. Lesley Stahl reports on Sunday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

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  • Lisa Christopher-Stine, MD, MPH

    Professor of Medicine and Neurology Division of Rheumatology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Director, Johns Hopkins Myositis Precision Medicine Center of Excellence Co-Chair, IRB 5 Colleges Advisory Program (CAP) Core Faculty, Taussig College

    Lisa Christopher-Stine, MD, MPH

    Professor of Medicine and Neurology Division of Rheumatology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Director, Johns Hopkins Myositis Precision Medicine Center of Excellence Co-Chair, IRB 5 Colleges Advisory Program (CAP) Core Faculty, Taussig College
    Dr. Christopher-Stine is an internationally recognized health researcher, clinician, and educator. In her research, Dr. Christopher-Stine specializes in autoimmune diseases and has a special interest in reproductive health and the microbiome in autoimmune diseases. She is also the co-discover of a novel autoantibody associated with autoimmune statin myopathy. As the co-founder and Director of the Johns Hopkins Myositis Precision Medicine Center of Excellence, Dr. Christopher-Stine devotes her research and clinical interest to studying autoimmune muscle diseases collectively known as myositis. Recent collaborative work from her research team revealed that one type of myositis thought to be associated with accelerated or abnormal muscle cell aging called Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM) presents differently in men and women and is likely underdiagnosed in women. This opens the door to studying gender differences not only in IBM but also sex differences in aging muscle in the general population.

  • Robynne Chutkan, MD

    Founder and CEO, Digestive Center for Wellness

    Robynne Chutkan, MD

    Founder and CEO, Digestive Center for Wellness
    Dr. Robynne Chutkan is an integrative gastroenterologist and microbiome expert, bestselling author and founder of the Digestive Center for Wellness, a practice dedicated to pinpointing the root causes of GI disorders to help patients heal from the inside out. Her work focuses on the differences in digestive systems between men and women. Dr. Chutkan is the author of digestive health books including Gutbliss, The Microbiome Solution, and The Bloat Cure.

  • Elizabeth Cohn, RN, PhD, FAAN

    Vice President for Health Equity Research, Northwell Health/Feinstein Institute for Medical Research

    Elizabeth Cohn, RN, PhD, FAAN

    Vice President for Health Equity Research, Northwell Health/Feinstein Institute for Medical Research
    Elizabeth Cohn, RN, PhD, FAAN is the Vice President for Health Equity Research at Northwell Health/Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. She was an Obama White House Champion of Change in Precision Medicine and Health Equity. Dr. Cohn is a translational nurse scientist and the chair of the NIH supported Nursing Science Translational Research Group. She is the current author of the seminal text produced by the CDC and the NIH, the Principles of Community Engagement 3rd Edition, now in it’s 30th Year.

    Dr. Cohn is the Principal Investigator of the Interdisciplinary Guided Network for Investigation, Translation and Equity from the Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health and COMMUNITY a community transformation grant from NIH which works on upstream social determinants of health for cardiovascular disease and cancer in Black and Latinx Communities.

    She is the Author of Flip and See ECG, a cardiac handbook for medical providers, now it its 4th edition published by Elsevier in addition to the 3rd Edition of the Principles of Community Engagement. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, on NPR All Things Considered and in Men’s Health.

  • Elizabeth Comen, MD

    Breast Cancer Oncologist, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Author, All in Her Head

    Elizabeth Comen, MD

    Breast Cancer Oncologist, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Author, All in Her Head
    Dr. Elizabeth Comen, M.D., has dedicated her medical career to saving the lives of women. An award-winning, internationally sought-after clinician and physician-scientist, Dr. Comen is a Medical Oncologist specializing in breast cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. She earned her BA in the History of Science from Harvard College and her MD from Harvard Medical School, then completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital and her fellowship in oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

    Recognized for her compassion and easy-to-comprehend communication with patients, Dr. Comen is the recipient of numerous grants and awards, including the Department of Defense Breakthrough Award for Breast Cancer, the American Society of Clinical Oncology Young Investigator Award, and multiple grants from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and the Susan G. Komen Foundation, among others. Her research has been published in prestigious scientific journals, including Nature, Cancer Cell, Journal of Clinical Oncology, and The Journal of National Cancer Institute. Chosen as a Castle Connolly Top Doctor in New York since 2017, she has also been featured as a New York Magazine Top Doctor multiple years in a row.

    All In Her Head: The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women’s Bodies and Why It Matters Today is her first book.

  • Karina Davidson, PhD

    Dean of Academic Affairs, Director of the Institute of Health System Science at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research Endowed Donald and Barbara Zucker Professor in Health Outcomes at the Zucker School of Medicine Senior Vice President, Research at Northwell Health

    Karina Davidson, PhD

    Dean of Academic Affairs, Director of the Institute of Health System Science at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research Endowed Donald and Barbara Zucker Professor in Health Outcomes at the Zucker School of Medicine Senior Vice President, Research at Northwell Health
    Dr. Karina Davidson is the Dean of Academic Affairs, Director of the Institute of Health System Science at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, Endowed Donald and Barbara Zucker Professor in Health Outcomes at the Zucker School of Medicine and Senior Vice President, Research at Northwell Health. For more than 25 years Dr. Davidson has served in leadership roles for teams focused on the advancement of scientific and patient care missions, through both the generation and implementation of research-based evidence. Dr. Davidson has been the principal investigator of more than 29 federally funded grants and authored over 350 peer-reviewed articles. Dr. Davidson’s research focuses on innovations in personalized trials and healthcare systems to manage chronic disease and patient symptoms that incorporate patient preferences and values. Personalized (N-of-1) Trials are designed to identify a single patient’s symptoms, conditions, or behaviors, and promote their overall health. She has a Ph.D. in Clinical Health Psychology and a M.A.Sc in Industrial/Organizational Psychology.

  • Richard J. Davidson, PhD

    William James and Vilas Research Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison Founder & Director of the Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison Founder and Chief Visionary, Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc.

    Richard J. Davidson, PhD

    William James and Vilas Research Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison Founder & Director of the Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison Founder and Chief Visionary, Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc.
    Davidson received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in Psychology in 1976. Davidson’s research is broadly focused on the neural bases of emotion and emotional style and methods to promote human flourishing including meditation and related contemplative practices. He has published over 440 articles, numerous chapters and reviews and edited 14 books. He is the author (with Sharon Begley) of "The Emotional Life of Your Brain" published in 2012 and co-author with Daniel Goleman of “Altered Traits” published in 2017. He was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine in 2006. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2017 and appointed to the Governing Board of UNESCO’s Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) in 2018. In 2014, Davidson founded the non-profit, Healthy Minds Innovations, which translates science into tools to cultivate and measure well-being.
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    Richard J. Davidson, PhD

    psychiatry.wisc.edu
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  • Gillian Einstein, PhD

    Wilfred and Joyce Posluns Chair in Women's Brain Health and Aging Adjunct Scientist, Rotman Research Institute Program Lead, Women, Sex, Gender, & Dementia Program—Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration and Aging (CCNA) President, Canadian Organization for Gender and Sex (COGS) Research

    Gillian Einstein, PhD

    Wilfred and Joyce Posluns Chair in Women's Brain Health and Aging Adjunct Scientist, Rotman Research Institute Program Lead, Women, Sex, Gender, & Dementia Program—Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration and Aging (CCNA) President, Canadian Organization for Gender and Sex (COGS) Research
    Gillian Einstein is The Wilfred and Joyce Posluns Chair in Women’s Brain Health and Aging, Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto, and Adjunct Scientist at Baycrest and Women’s College Hospitals. She is a board member of the International Gender Medicine Society, past-Chair of the Canadian Institutes of Health’s Institute of Gender and Health Advisory Board (2014-2024), and Founder and President of the Canadian Organization of Gender and Sex (COGS) Research. She leads the Women, Sex, Gender, and Dementia Cross-Cutting Program for the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration and Aging and Co-Leads the University of Toronto’s Women’s Brain Health Rounds. She has published on vision, Alzheimer disease, pain, sleep, and the effects of estrogens’ effects on memory and cognition. She is funded by CIHR, Brain Canada, The Ontario Brain Institute, the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation (CABHI), and the Women’s Brain Health Initiative to understand how early life events, including surgeries and cultural practices, affect the trajectory of women’s brain health over the lifespan. Her lab’s current focus is on how estradiol loss and treatment as well as stigma and immigration affect memory and cognition in diverse populations of women.

    Professor Einstein uses a methodology that she developed called, "Situated Neuroscience" that employs a combination of qualitative, quantitative (questionnaires), and physiological (neuropsychology, brain imaging, blood biomarkers, polysomnography) methods (Very Mixed Methods) to explore how both sex and gender mediate women’s brain health.

  • Michal Elovitz, MD

    Dean, Women’s Health Research, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Director, Women's Biomedical Research Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

    Michal Elovitz, MD

    Dean, Women’s Health Research, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Director, Women's Biomedical Research Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
    Michal Elovitz, MD, is a physician-scientist, mentor and advocate. She is the Dean of Women’s Health Research at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is also the Director of the Women's Biomedical Research Institute, which is focused on understanding the female reproductive tract and sex-specific biology to make meaningful advances in women’s health science and women’s health care.

    Dr. Elovitz has been actively involved in fundamental and translational research for more than 20 years. Her research is or has been funded by the March of Dimes, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, National Institute of Child Health and Development, National Institute for Nursing Research, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Elovitz supports, fosters, participates, and advocates for collaborative research, from the bench to the bedside, to advance the mission of improving health outcomes for women and their children. She is a strong believer in team science and has successfully brought in diverse disciplines to advance women’s health research. Her research program has focused on understanding the mechanisms and consequences of adverse reproductive and pregnancy outcomes both for the pregnancy of interest and for implications for the long-term health of the mother and child. Her research integrating immunology and microbiology into pregnancy health has led to novel discoveries for reproductive health.

    Dr. Elovitz believes that scientists are obligated to support, train, and empower the next generation of researchers. As such, she has created several mentoring programs and is active in supporting women in science and medicine. She is a public advocate for reproductive rights, gender, and racial equity.

  • Marlena S. Fejzo, PhD

    Assistant Clinical Research Professor, University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine Chief Scientific Officer, Harmonia Healthcare Board Member, Hyperemesis Education and Research (HER) Foundation Board Member, Foundation for Women’s Health Advisor, NGM Bio

    Marlena S. Fejzo, PhD

    Assistant Clinical Research Professor, University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine Chief Scientific Officer, Harmonia Healthcare Board Member, Hyperemesis Education and Research (HER) Foundation Board Member, Foundation for Women’s Health Advisor, NGM Bio
    Marlena Schoenberg Fejzo is a women’s health scientist and a leading expert on severe morning sickness/Hyperemesis Gravidarum. She received her Ph.D. in Genetics from Harvard University in 1995. Currently she is an Assistant Clinical Research Professor at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine in the Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Research Director and Board Member of the Hyperemesis Education and Research (HER) Foundation, Board Member of the Foundation for Women’s Health, Chief Scientific Officer of Harmonia Healthcare, and an advisor for NGM Bio. Fejzo found the first genes for uterine fibroid tumors and for nausea and vomiting of pregnancy. In March, 2024 Fejzo was honored as one of Time’s Women of the Year and on May 1, 2024 she was named one of Time’s 100 Health Catalysts, and participated in a panel with co-honorees Halle Berry and Daniel Skovronsky, on Medical Gaslighting and Investing in Women’s Health.

  • Jocelyn Fitzgerald, MD, URPS, FACS

    Assistant Professor of OB/Gyn and Reproductive Sciences, Division of Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Magee Womens Hospital of UPMC

    Jocelyn Fitzgerald, MD, URPS, FACS

    Assistant Professor of OB/Gyn and Reproductive Sciences, Division of Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Magee Womens Hospital of UPMC
    Jocelyn J. Fitzgerald, MD is an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the division of Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She completed her Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship at Georgetown University/MedStar Health and her Gynecology and Obstetrics residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. She attended medical school at the University of Pittsburgh and graduated from the Physician Scientist Training Program where she studied overlapping mechanisms of bowel and bladder pain. Before medical school, Dr. Fitzgerald attended The Schreyer Honors College at Penn State University and earned dual degrees in Neurobiology and Women’s Studies with an certificate in Women’s Health. She is the Social Media Editor of the Urogynecology Journal and the Chair of the SGS Social Media committee. Her research and advocacy has focused on mechanisms and misdiagnosis of female chronic pelvic and bladder pain, discriminatory reimbursement and funding disparities in gynecologic surgery and women’s health research, and the role of social and digital media in the online promotion of women’s health.

  • Angel Foster, DPhil, MD, AM

    President & Co-Founder of Cambridge Reproductive Health Consultants Co-Founder of The Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project

    Angel Foster, DPhil, MD, AM

    President & Co-Founder of Cambridge Reproductive Health Consultants Co-Founder of The Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project
    Dr. Angel M. Foster is a Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa where she held the 2011-2016 Endowed Chair in Women’s Health Research. A 1996 Rhodes Scholar, she holds a doctorate from the University of Oxford in Middle Eastern Studies, an MD from Harvard Medical School, and both master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Stanford University. Dr. Foster is a global abortion researcher and leads projects in 22 countries. She has authored more than 120 articles and co-edited three books; she also led the most recent revision of the Inter-Agency Field Manual on Reproductive Health in Humanitarian Settings. Dr. Foster serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Abortion Federation, Canada, the Co-Chair of the Safe Abortion Care Sub-Working Group of the Inter-Agency Working Group on Reproductive Health in Crises (IAWG), and the Editor-in-Chief of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. The recipient of numerous awards in honours, she received the Guttmacher Institute’s 2017 Darroch Award for Excellence in Sexual and Reproductive Health Research and was inducted into the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2023.

    A resident of Massachusetts for more than 25 years, in 2014 Dr. Foster co-founded Cambridge Reproductive Health Consultants (CRHC), a non-profit organization dedicated to improving reproductive health and fostering reproductive justice worldwide. CRHC has long been involved in expanding access to safe, high quality abortion care in legally restricted and low resource settings through developing, implementing, and evaluating innovative strategies for service delivery. Drawing from these global lessons, in 2023 Dr. Foster co-founded The Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project (The MAP), the first Shield Law practice in the United States.

  • Angelika Fretzen, PhD, MBA

    Chief Operating Officer and Technology Translation Director, Wyss Institute at Harvard University

    Angelika Fretzen, PhD, MBA

    Chief Operating Officer and Technology Translation Director, Wyss Institute at Harvard University
    Angelika Fretzen, PhD, MBA, serves as Chief Operating Officer and Technology Translation Director at the Wyss Institute, where in 2022 she founded the Women’s Health Catalyst to innovate approaches for studying female biology. In 2024, she received the Joseph B. Martin Dean’s Leadership Award for the Advancement of Women’s Careers at Harvard Medical School. Before joining Wyss, Angelika spent two decades in the pharmaceutical industry, including leading the pharmaceutical development of Linzess™ at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals and advancing Edasalonexent into Phase 3 clinical trials for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy at Catabasis Pharmaceuticals. She also served on the Board of Bridgewell, an important human service organization in Massachusetts. A chemist by training, Angelika completed her undergraduate studies in Germany, earned her PhD in Switzerland, and conducted postdoctoral research at Harvard. She holds an MBA from Suffolk University and was named one of Mass High Tech’s “Women to Watch” in 2013.

  • Liisa Galea, PhD

    Treliving Family Chair in Women's Mental Health, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto Lead Women's Health Research Cluster, Principal Editor FIN, President OSSD

    Liisa Galea, PhD

    Treliving Family Chair in Women's Mental Health, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto Lead Women's Health Research Cluster, Principal Editor FIN, President OSSD
    Dr. Liisa Galea is the Treliving Family Chair in Women’s Mental Health at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto and a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. She leads the Women’s Health Research Cluster (>750 members worldwide). Dr. Galea is a world-renowned expert in sex and sex hormone influences on brain and behaviour in both health and disease states, with a focus on stress-related psychiatric disorders and dementia. She has > 200 published papers, and is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and International Behavioral Neuroscience Society. She has won numerous awards, including the Mortyn Jones Medal. She has served on peer review committees for NSERC, CIHR, NIH and the Wellcome Trust and is chief editor of Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology and is in the top 1% of cited researchers worldwide. She is tireless advocate for women’s health research and for sex and gender-based analyses towards improved health for all people.

  • Jennifer Garrison, PhD

    Assistant Professor, Buck Institute for Research on Aging Co-Founder and Director, Global Consortium for Reproductive Longevity and Equality

    Jennifer Garrison, PhD

    Assistant Professor, Buck Institute for Research on Aging Co-Founder and Director, Global Consortium for Reproductive Longevity and Equality
    Jennifer Garrison, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, co-Founder and Director of the Global Consortium for Reproductive Longevity and Equality, and a member of the Buck Center for Reproductive Longevity & Equality. She holds secondary appointments in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California (USC).

    She is a passionate advocate for women’s health and is pioneering a new movement to advance science focused on female reproductive aging. Her lab studies the role of inter-tissue communication in systemic aging, and how changes in the complex interactions between the ovary and brain during middle-age lead to the onset of reproductive decline in females.

    Dr. Garrison received her BA in Molecular Cell Biology from UC Berkeley, completed her PhD at UCSF in Chemistry and Chemical Biology where she was a National Science Foundation Fellow and an ARCS Scholar, and was a Helen Hay Whitney Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the Rockefeller University. She has played an active role in the aging field, as a member of the Board of Directors for the American Aging Association (AGE) and the Alliance for Longevity Initiatives (A4Li), a reviewer for the American Federation of Aging Research (AFAR), and as Associate Director of the Buck-USC Biology of Aging PhD program. Dr. Garrison was named an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Neuroscience Research Fellow and an Allen Institute for Brain Science Next Generation Leader and is the recipient of a Glenn Medical Foundation Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging, a Junior Faculty Award from the American Federation of Aging Research, and a Healthy Longevity Catalyst Award from the National Academy of Medicine.
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    Jennifer Garrison, PhD

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  • Steven Goldstein, MD

    Board-Certified Gynecologist Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine

    Steven Goldstein, MD

    Board-Certified Gynecologist Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine
    Dr. Steven Goldstein is a board-certified tenured Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine. He is an author and inventor with extensive experience on the Board of Directors of a publicly traded ultrasound company. He is also an advisor to pharmaceutical and medical device companies, as well as a holder of four patents. Dr. Goldstein has extensive defense expert witness experience in various litigation including patents, class action suits, and medical malpractice. He has held memberships and chairmanships of Data Safety Monitoring Boards. All this while still maintaining an active clinical practice.

  • Martha Gulati, MD, MS, FACC, FAHA, FASPC, FESC

    Director, Preventive Cardiology; Associate Director, Preventative and Rehabilitative Cardiac Center & Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center; Chair, Anita Dann Friedman, Women’s Cardiovascular Medicine and Research; Professor, Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Immediate Past President, American Society for Preventive Cardiology (ASPC)

    Martha Gulati, MD, MS, FACC, FAHA, FASPC, FESC

    Director, Preventive Cardiology; Associate Director, Preventative and Rehabilitative Cardiac Center & Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center; Chair, Anita Dann Friedman, Women’s Cardiovascular Medicine and Research; Professor, Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Immediate Past President, American Society for Preventive Cardiology (ASPC)
    Dr. Gulati is extremely passionate about preventing heart disease in women. She received her medical degree from University of Toronto, then proceeded with her residency, cardiology fellowship, and M.S. at the University of Chicago. Dr. Gulati is currently a practicing cardiologist at Cedars-Sinai and is the immediate past president of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology (ASPC). Her research highlights heart health sex differences by analyzing risk factors and lifestyle interventions for cardiovascular disease in women.

  • Jennifer Hall, PhD, FAHA

    Chief, Data Science, American Heart Association Adjunct Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota

    Jennifer Hall, PhD, FAHA

    Chief, Data Science, American Heart Association Adjunct Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota
    Dr. Hall serves as the Chief of Data Science at the American Heart Association (AHA) and holds an adjunct Professor in the Dept of Medicine at the University of Minnesota. Under her leadership the AHA established the AHA Precision Medicine Platform, which provides researchers with a web portal providing access to data and workspaces equipped with analysis tools. Dr. Hall’s team includes experts in statistical techniques, evaluation and data management. The team delivers data, code, and evaluation expertise and tools to multiple projects including Research Goes Red, the AHA Get With the Guideline Registry Data and multiple NIH, CDC, and FDA awards. Her research analyzes different factors contribute to understanding heart health – including gender.
    Video

    Dr. Jennifer Hall WHAM-AHA Heart Event Clip

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  • Nada O. Hanafi, MSc, MPH

    Founder & Manager – MedTech Strategy Advisors, LLC. Co-Founder and Board Director – MedTech Color; medtechcolor.org

    Nada O. Hanafi, MSc, MPH

    Founder & Manager – MedTech Strategy Advisors, LLC. Co-Founder and Board Director – MedTech Color; medtechcolor.org
    Nada Hanafi is a thought leader within the Life Sciences and MedTech industry with over 22 years of experience across the public and private sectors. She is the Founder of MedTech Strategy Advisors, LLC where she advises life-science companies on regulatory strategy, product development, and clinical research to accomplish regulatory, compliance, and business goals. Nada spent over 12 years working for the FDA, serving in increasing roles of responsibility and ultimately as a Senior Science Health Advisor in the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), where she led cross-Center and Agency programs for the advancement of FDA's mission to promote and protect public health, including as co-founder of the Health of Women (HoW) program, the Network of Experts program and the Patient Preference Initiative. She served as CDRH Liaison and Subject Matter Expert to FDA’s Office of Women’s Health (OWH) and the Office of Minority Health (OMH). She collaborated with the Center for Tobacco (CTP) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) where she served as Senior Management Advisor to the Director at the Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH), to improve regulatory efficiency and to strengthen data collection. Nada’s drive and passion to address health inequities with a focus on women and minorities led her to co-found MedTech Color, a non-profit focused on advancing the representation of people of color within MedTech. Nada also serves on the Steering Committee and as co-lead on the Regulatory and Science Policy subcommittee for the Innovation Equity Forum (IEF) led by the NIH’s ORWH and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She serves on the board of directors for Ignite Health, and is an advisor for a number of startups, accelerators, and universities, including CLSI’s FAST program, MedTech Innovator, MedTech Women, UC Berkeley's Master of Translational Medicine program, UCLA Biodesign, Stanford Biodesign, as well as the AMA’s In Full Health initiative to advance equitable health innovation.

    Nada holds an MSc in Biomaterials and a BEng in Biomedical Materials Science & Engineering from Queen Mary College, University of London. She earned her MPH from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Nada is a Certified Quality Improvement Associate (CQIA) and a Certified Quality Auditor (CQA) from the American Society for Quality (ASQ).

    Nada O. Hanafi, MSc, MPH

    medtechcolor.org

  • Sharonne Hayes, MD, FACC, FAHA

    Founder, Women’s Heart Clinic, Mayo Clinic Profesor, Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic

    Sharonne Hayes, MD, FACC, FAHA

    Founder, Women’s Heart Clinic, Mayo Clinic Profesor, Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic
    Dr. Sharonne Hayes has long advocated for the advancement of women’s health and sex-based medicine within the field of cardiology and many other areas that affect women’s health and well-being. Her research interests include sex and gender-based cardiology, cardiovascular conditions primarily affecting women, spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), fibromuscular dysplasia, pericardial diseases, health equity, participation of women and minorities in medical research, healthcare workforce equity, and the utility and optimal role of social media in clinical practice, medical research and health education.

  • Marsha Henderson

    Associate Commissioner for Women’s Health, FDA (retired)

    Marsha Henderson

    Associate Commissioner for Women’s Health, FDA (retired)
    Marsha Henderson, the former Associate Commissioner for Women's Health at the Food and Drug Administration, is a nationally recognized innovative leader and change agent for the health of women and their families. During her decade-long tenure at the FDA, Henderson served as a voice to include women in research, education, and policy initiatives to build a better understanding of sex differences and health issues that disproportionately or uniquely impact women. She created the first FDA Women’s Health Research Roadmap, outlining seven priority areas for new or enhanced research across disease areas and new cutting-edge areas of science.
    Video

    WHAM Report Launch Event Highlight | Marsha Henderson, Former FDA Associate Commissioner

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  • Claudia Henschke, PhD, MD

    Professor of Radiology & Head of the Lung and Cardiac Screening Program, Mount Sinai Medical Center

    Claudia Henschke, PhD, MD

    Professor of Radiology & Head of the Lung and Cardiac Screening Program, Mount Sinai Medical Center
    Dr. Claudia Henschke is a Professor of Radiology and heads the Lung and Cardiac Screening Program at the Mount Sinai Medical Center. A pioneer and leading expert in the field of diagnostic radiology, Dr. Henschke has long believed that smokers and former smokers should consider being tested with low-dose CT scans to detect lung cancer when a tumor is still small enough to be cured. Dr. Henschke has more than 20 years of clinical and research experience in this area and, since 1993, has led city, state, national, and international projects that have resulted in the diagnosis of some 800 lung cancers. She and her team have created a protocol that has set an international standard for performing low-dose CT scans and managing findings which require additional testing. Her team has developed techniques that provide 3D growth assessment of a lesion. Using these techniques lesion growth can be measured and compared to the rate of growth seen in malignant tumors. This can help distinguish those lesions that are benign from those that are malignant. Dr. Henschke heads the International Early Lung Cancer Action Program (I-ELCAP) which is an international collaborative group consisting of experts on lung cancer related issues. More than 60 sites in the world have participated in this research program. Dr. Henschke received a M.S. in mathematical statistics from Southern Methodist University and her PhD in mathematical statistics and computer science in 1969 from the University of Georgia. She was awarded her medical degree from Howard University in 1977. She completed her radiology residency at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and in 1981 was named to the faculty of the Department of Radiology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Henschke was a Professor of Radiology at Weill Cornell Medical College before joining Mount Sinai. Dr. Henschke has authored over 250 peer-reviewed publications, two books and more than 30 chapters in books.

  • Rachel Huxley, MA, DPhil (Oxon)

    Deakin Distinguished Professor, University of Oxford Chair, Victorian Cardiovascular Research Network Honorary Professor, The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales Executive Dean, Faculty of Health, Deakin University

    Rachel Huxley, MA, DPhil (Oxon)

    Deakin Distinguished Professor, University of Oxford Chair, Victorian Cardiovascular Research Network Honorary Professor, The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales Executive Dean, Faculty of Health, Deakin University
    Deakin Distinguished Professor Rachel Huxley was appointed to the role of Executive Dean for the Faculty of Health at Deakin University in October 2019. Professor Huxley obtained her doctorate in epidemiology and public health from the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Oxford University and completed her post-doctoral training also in Oxford before relocating to the George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales in 2002, where she continues to hold an honorary professorial appointment. Between 2009-2013, she was based at the University of Minnesota leading collaborations in cardiovascular epidemiology before moving back to Australia to assume the Chair in Epidemiology at the University of Queensland. In 2017 she was made a Visiting Professorial Fellow in Epidemiology within the Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford. Since March 2024, Professor Huxley has been the co-director of the Centre for Sex and Gender Equity in Health and Medical Research, a collaboration with the George Institute for Global Health, the Human Rights Institute, University of New South Wales and Deakin University.

    Professor Huxley’s research has two main foci; the first is on the determination and quantification of major and modifiable risk factors for chronic disease and sex, gender and ethnic disparities in these relationships; and the second area is in evaluating the health impact of climate change and air pollution. She has published more than 240 research articles, has a H-index of 75 (Scopus) and currently holds several competitive National Health and Medical Research Council research grants as Principal or Co-Investigator in areas related to obesity, diabetes and women’s health.

  • Emily Jacobs, PhD

    Associate Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences, UC Santa Barbara Director of the Ann S. Bowers Women's Brain Health Initiative

    Emily Jacobs, PhD

    Associate Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences, UC Santa Barbara Director of the Ann S. Bowers Women's Brain Health Initiative
    Emily G. Jacobs is an Associate Professor of Psychological and Brain Science at UC Santa Barbara and Director of the Ann S. Bowers Women’s Brain Health Initiative. She received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from UC Berkeley. Prior to UCSB she was on the faculty at Harvard Medical School and the Department of Medicine/Division of Women's Health at Brigham & Women's Hospital. Her research program is redefining our understanding of the brain’s capacity to undergo dynamic neuroanatomical changes and plasticity well into adulthood. Her lab uses advanced brain imaging tools and biofluid assessments to understand how hormones shape the brain over the life course. Recently, her lab pioneered the use of precision imaging methods to generate the first map of the human brain across pregnancy. In recognition of this body of work, she was named a Hellman Fellow, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholar, a National Academy of Sciences Frontiers of Science Kavli Fellow for "distinguished young scientists under 45", and one of ten scientists to watch by Science News. In addition to research, her lab regularly partners with K-12 groups to advance girls' representation in STEM. Her work appears in The New York Times, Netflix, NPR, BBC, MasterClass, National Geographic, Scientific American, and TED.

  • Marjorie Jenkins, MD

    Dean, University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville Chief Academic Officer, Prisma Health-Upstate

    Marjorie Jenkins, MD

    Dean, University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville Chief Academic Officer, Prisma Health-Upstate
    In addition to her work as a clinician, Dr. Marjorie Jenkins has been a fierce academic and program innovator, incorporating sex and gender-inclusive models and educational resources at medical schools and institutions across the country. Dr. Jenkins launched the U.S. Sex and Gender Medical Education Summit to address disparities in research focusing on women’s health and was the Founding Executive Director and Chief Scientific Officer for the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health.

  • Hadine Joffe, MD, MSc

    Founding Member and Lead Scientific Advisor with The WHAM Collaborative Executive Director, Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health Research, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Vice Chair for Psychiatry Research, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Paula A. Johnson Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the Field of Women’s Health, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

    Hadine Joffe, MD, MSc

    Founding Member and Lead Scientific Advisor with The WHAM Collaborative Executive Director, Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health Research, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Vice Chair for Psychiatry Research, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Paula A. Johnson Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the Field of Women’s Health, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
    Dr. Hadine Joffe is an internationally recognized women’s health researcher, educator, and clinician. In her research, Dr. Joffe is dedicated to advancing the understanding, treatment, and consequences of symptoms resulting from reproductive hormone changes in the brain, with a particular focus on women who have breast cancer. As the Director of the Connors Center, Dr. Joffe supports faculty and trainees in forging new ground in women’s health research and works to ensure that research translates to patient care and is aligned with women’s health advocacy priorities.
    Video

    Dr. Hadine Joffe, WHAM Collaborative Member

    Dr. Hadine Joffe is WHAM!’s lead scientific research partner and the Executive Director of the Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

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  • Wendy Klein, MD, MACP

    Associate Professor Emeritus of Internal Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology, VCU School of Medicine Co-Founder, VCU Institute of Women’s Health Vice Chair, Virginia Board of Health Former Medical Director, Health Brigade

    Wendy Klein, MD, MACP

    Associate Professor Emeritus of Internal Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology, VCU School of Medicine Co-Founder, VCU Institute of Women’s Health Vice Chair, Virginia Board of Health Former Medical Director, Health Brigade
    Dr. Wendy Klein never saw a female doctor while growing up, but this only made her more determined to follow her passion for medicine and serve as a role model for future generations of female doctors. Dr. Wendy Klein is board-certified in Internal Medicine and has devoted her career to improving women’s health and eliminating the inequities in the research gap. She is the former Medical Director of Health Brigade, the oldest free clinic in Virginia which provided medical care to vulnerable and under-served populations.

  • Juliana (Jewel) Kling, MD, MPH, NCMP, FACP

    Professor of Medicine, Mayo Clinic Arizona Chair of the Division of Women’s Health Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic Arizona Assistant Director of the Women’s Health Center and Associate Chair of Equity, Inclusion and Diversity for the Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic Arizona

    Juliana (Jewel) Kling, MD, MPH, NCMP, FACP

    Professor of Medicine, Mayo Clinic Arizona Chair of the Division of Women’s Health Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic Arizona Assistant Director of the Women’s Health Center and Associate Chair of Equity, Inclusion and Diversity for the Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic Arizona
    Dr. Jewel Kling is a Professor of Medicine, Chair of the Division of Women’s Health Internal Medicine, Assistant Director of the Women’s Health Center and Associate Chair of Equity, Inclusion and Diversity for the Department of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona. She completed medical school and a master’s in public health at the University of Arizona Tucson and Internal Medicine Residency at Mayo Clinic Arizona, followed by a Chief Internal Medicine fellowship year. Her clinical and research interest are in menopause, sexual health and LGBT care. She is a North American Menopause Society (NAMS) Certified Menopause Practitioner and serves on the board of the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health (ISSWSH), and the American Medical Women’s Association Sex and Gender Health Collaborative. She is part of the transgender steering committee at Mayo Clinic Arizona and has been a past co-chair of the LGBTI Mayo Employee Resource Group. She is also involved in education and is active with the Internal Medicine residency and Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, as well as efforts to expand the discipline of Sex and Gender specific medicine.

  • Susan Kornstein, MD

    Executive Director, Institute for Women's Health, Virginia Commonwealth University Director, Clinical Research in the Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University Professor of Psychiatry and Obstetrics & Gynecology, Virginia Commonwealth University

    Susan Kornstein, MD

    Executive Director, Institute for Women's Health, Virginia Commonwealth University Director, Clinical Research in the Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University Professor of Psychiatry and Obstetrics & Gynecology, Virginia Commonwealth University
    Dr. Susan G. Kornstein is Professor of Psychiatry and Obstetrics & Gynecology at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she is Executive Director of the Institute for Women's Health and Director of Clinical Research in the Department of Psychiatry. She is Principal Investigator of a Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) grant funded by the National Institutes of Health. She is also Principal Investigator of an ADVANCE-IT grant funded by the National Science Foundation focused on increasing recruitment, retention and advancement of diverse women faculty in STEM fields. She has conducted more than 90 clinical research studies in the areas of depression, anxiety disorders, premenstrual syndrome, and sexual dysfunction. Dr. Kornstein is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Women's Health and Women’s Health Reports and Associate Editor of the Archives of Women’s Mental Health. She is a past member of the NIH Advisory Council for Research on Women’s Health and Past President of the International Association for Women’s Mental Health.

  • Pavitra Kotini-Shah, MD

    Assistant Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago Women’s Health Research Scholar, University of Illinois at Chicago Director of Resident Ultrasound Education, University of Illinois at Chicago

    Pavitra Kotini-Shah, MD

    Assistant Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago Women’s Health Research Scholar, University of Illinois at Chicago Director of Resident Ultrasound Education, University of Illinois at Chicago
    Dr. Kotini-Shah is passionate about understanding sex and gender differences and advocates for more inclusive health research and data for women and minorities. In addition to her work in the emergency room and her research focused on heart health and resuscitation, Dr. Kontini-Shah also co-authored a recent study showing how COVID-19 has disproportionately affected women faculty members who are in their early and mid-careers due to increased workloads and stress and decreased self-care.

  • Sandra Lewis, MD, FACC

    Trustee, American College of Cardiology Cardiologist, Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center

    Sandra Lewis, MD, FACC

    Trustee, American College of Cardiology Cardiologist, Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center
    Dr. Sandra J. Lewis is a cardiologist in Portland, Oregon with Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center. She is a graduate of Stanford University School of Medicine and has been practicing cardiology for nearly 40 years. Lewis specializes in treating chronic hypertension, heart failure, coronary artery disease and atrial fibrillation. She now sits as a member of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Board of Trustees, after holding several other leadership positions within the group. Dr. Lewis also spearheaded the creation of the Sandra J. Lewis Mid-Career Women’s Leadership Institute, empowering female cardiovascular physicians as they enter new professional phases. Dr. Lewis’ work inspiring female physicians and promoting women’s health will have lasting impacts on the field of cardiology.

  • JoAnn Manson, MD, DrPH

    Chief, Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Professor of Medicine and the Michael and Lee Bell Professor of Women's Health, Harvard Medical School

    JoAnn Manson, MD, DrPH

    Chief, Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Professor of Medicine and the Michael and Lee Bell Professor of Women's Health, Harvard Medical School
    Dr. JoAnn Manson is a prominent women’s health expert, and conducts research across several WHAM disease focus areas, including cardiovascular disease and breast cancer. In particular, Dr. Manson focuses on the role of lifestyle factors, diet, micronutrient supplementation, and hormone replacement therapy as determinants of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and breast cancer in women.
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    WHAM JoAnn Manson

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  • Sue Matthews, RN, BA, MHScN, DPH, Wharton Fellow

    CEO, Royal Women's Hospital Professor (Enterprise) School of Nursing, University of Melbourne

    Sue Matthews, RN, BA, MHScN, DPH, Wharton Fellow

    CEO, Royal Women's Hospital Professor (Enterprise) School of Nursing, University of Melbourne
    Professor Sue Matthews, RN BA MHScN DPH Wharton Fellow is CEO of the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. She has held leadership positions in acute care, home and community care and government.

    She sits on a number of Boards and advisory committees including: the National Women’s Health Advisory Council, the Victorian Women’s Health Advisory Council and Chairs the Victorian Women’s Pain Inquiry. She also chairs the Victorian Healthcare Association.

    Sue holds a Doctor of Public Health and a Master’s Health Science Nursing - Charles Sturt University, a Bachelor of Liberal Arts - Health Studies - York University, a Diploma in Nursing - Ryerson University and is a Fellow of the Wharton School of Business. She holds academic roles at University of Melbourne, La Trobe University and Trent University. A recipient of numerous awards Professor Matthews was named as one of Canada’s top 100 most powerful women and received the Canadian Nurses Association Centennial Award. The Women’s was awarded the Premier’s Health Service of the Year 2023.

  • Alyson McGregor, MD

    Associate Dean, Faculty Affairs and Development, University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville

    Alyson McGregor, MD

    Associate Dean, Faculty Affairs and Development, University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville
    Dr. Alyson McGregor’s research on the impact of sex and gender differences in emergency medicine have made her a leading spokesperson for sex- and gender-based research around the world. From a TEDx talk with over 1.5 million views to her book, “Sex Matters: How Male-Centric Medicine Endangers Women’s Health – and What We Can Do About It,” Dr. McGregor has sparked a national conversation around the concept of sex and gender differences in the delivery of acute medical care.
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    Alyson McGregor, MD

    doctors.prismahealth.org
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    alysonmcgregormd.com
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    Dr. Alyson McGregor, WHAM Collaborative Member

    Dr. Alyson McGregor is the Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs and Development and Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville. Dr. McGregor is also the author of the book, “Sex Matters: How Male-Centric Medicine Endangers Women’s Health – and What We Can Do About It.”

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  • Roxana Mehran, MD, FACC, FACP, FCCP, FESC, FAHA, MSCAI

    Endowed Mount Sinai Professor in Cardiovascular Clinical Research and Outcomes Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) and Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

    Roxana Mehran, MD, FACC, FACP, FCCP, FESC, FAHA, MSCAI

    Endowed Mount Sinai Professor in Cardiovascular Clinical Research and Outcomes Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) and Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
    Dr. Roxana Mehran is an internationally renowned interventional cardiologist and clinical research expert in the field of cardiovascular disease. Dr. Mehran has built a globally-respected academic research center focused on developing randomized clinical trials, served as principal investigator for numerous global studies, developed risk scores for bleeding and acute kidney injury, participated in developing clinical guidelines, and authored over 1300 peer-reviewed articles. She is currently leading the Lancet Commission on Women’s Cardiovascular Diseases, which brings together leading female researchers from around the world to identify and bridge gaps in research and care for women with cardiovascular disease.

  • Michelle Mielke, PhD

    Chair, Department of Epidemiology and Prevention, Wake Forest University School of Medicine Professor of Epidemiology and Prevention, Wake Forest University School of Medicine Professor of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine

    Michelle Mielke, PhD

    Chair, Department of Epidemiology and Prevention, Wake Forest University School of Medicine Professor of Epidemiology and Prevention, Wake Forest University School of Medicine Professor of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine
    Dr. Michelle Mielke works to further the understanding of the epidemiology of neurodegenerative diseases and the sex-specific differences in the risk and progression of these diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Mielke leads research that will lead to identification of sex-specific risk factors in both men and women to better predict risk of neurodegenerative diseases and accelerated aging. By studying sex differences, Dr. Mielke hopes to contribute to improved precision-based medicine for men and women.
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    Dr. Michelle Mielke, WHAM Collaborative Member

    Dr. Michelle Mielke is the Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Neurology at Mayo Clinic as well as the Co-Director of the Specialized Center for Research Excellence on Sex Differences at Mayo Clinic.

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  • Pamela Moalli, MD, PhD

    Interim Executive Director, Magee-Womens Research Institute Division Director of Urogynecology & Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery, UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, Secondary appointments in the Department of Bioengineering, the McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine, and the Clinical and Translational Institute at the University of Pittsburgh Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering at Carnegie Mellon University

    Pamela Moalli, MD, PhD

    Interim Executive Director, Magee-Womens Research Institute Division Director of Urogynecology & Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery, UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, Secondary appointments in the Department of Bioengineering, the McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine, and the Clinical and Translational Institute at the University of Pittsburgh Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering at Carnegie Mellon University
    Dr. Moalli earned her BA in Biology with distinction from Brown University, and later pursued her MD and PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology at Northwestern University through the National Institutes of Health-sponsored Medical Scientist Training Program. She completed her residency in Obstetrics & Gynecology at the University of Pittsburgh, Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC, followed by a Fellowship in Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery. Dr. Moalli’s research focuses on the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of common pelvic floor disorders; including pelvic organ prolapse and urinary incontinence. She is designing biomaterials for pelvic surgeries in women with constructive healing properties. This research aims to improve outcomes of gynecologic surgeries by promoting safety and healing.

  • Jayne Morgan, MD

    Cardiologist Executive Director of Health and Community Education at Piedmont On-Air Medical Expert

    Jayne Morgan, MD

    Cardiologist Executive Director of Health and Community Education at Piedmont On-Air Medical Expert
    Jayne Morgan, MD, is a cardiologist and the Executive Director of Health and the Executive director of Health and Community Education at the Piedmont Healthcare Corporation in Atlanta, GA, the largest healthcare system in Georgia. Within this role she serves to address health literacy and information both internally to the 35,000 employee system, as well as to external stakeholders. Previously she served as the system Covid vaccine expert as the Executive Director of the Covid Task Force, analyzing the science and data from Piedmont and nationally, publishing 5 scientific articles, and driving efforts at addressing vaccine hesitancy and increasing vaccine uptake. In doing so, she created a social media series called The Stairwell Chronicles, providing up to date medical and scientific information in an easy to understand format.

    Dr. Morgan is the recipient of several awards acknowledging her work in providing accurate science and medicine to all communities including the NAACP Award, the National Women’s Empowerment Award, the Atlanta Business Chronicle Award, and the Medical Association of GA Humanitarian Award. Further she serves as a CNN medical expert, holds an appointment as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine at The Morehouse School of Medicine, was selected to support the Department of Health in its series of “Ask The Experts”, and has been a diligent and long time advocate for health equity for all communities via access to clinical trials. Dr. Morgan further serves on the Board of Georgia Bio, the Medical Association of Atlanta, and the National Board of the American Heart Association Diversity and Inclusion.

    Dr. Morgan is published in the areas of Congenital Heart Disease, Interventional Cardiology, and Covid19; serves as the Health Equity Advisor for Moderna, and is on Steering Committees of both Pfizer, and Novartis, where she also serves as the National Lead of the Horizon trial (Novartis). Previously she served as the Chief Medical Officer of the American Chemistry Council, Cardiology advisor to the MitraClip Team at Abbott Labs, the Global Director of the Cardiorenal Division of Solvay Pharmaceuticals, the Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, and the first African American President of the Southeast Life Sciences Association (single largest biotech association in the Southeast).

  • Lisa Mosconi, PhD

    Director, Alzheimer’s Prevention Program, Weill Cornell Medicine Director, Women’s Brain Initiative, Weill Cornell Medicine Associate Professor, Neuroscience in Neurology and Radiology, Weill Cornell Medicine

    Lisa Mosconi, PhD

    Director, Alzheimer’s Prevention Program, Weill Cornell Medicine Director, Women’s Brain Initiative, Weill Cornell Medicine Associate Professor, Neuroscience in Neurology and Radiology, Weill Cornell Medicine
    Dr. Lisa Mosconi’s research is at the intersection of neuroscience and women’s health, focusing on how genetics, environment, and lifestyle shape the brain, particularly the female brain. As the Director of Weill Cornell Women’s Brain Initiative, her work is focused on discovering sex-based molecular targets and precision therapies to prevent, delay, and treat Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Mosconi is the author of two books, The XX Brain and Brain Food, bringing 15+ years of research out of the lab and into everyone’s lives.
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    Lisa Mosconi, PhD

    neurology.weill.cornell.edu
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    lisamosconi.com
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    Dr. Lisa Mosconi – WHAM

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    WHAM Collaborative – Dr. Lisa Mosconi

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  • Erica Ollmann Saphire, PhD

    President and CEO, La Jolla Institute for Immunology

    Erica Ollmann Saphire, PhD

    President and CEO, La Jolla Institute for Immunology
    Dr. Erica Ollmann Saphire is a world-renowned virus expert and the first woman chosen to lead La Jolla Institute for Immunology as President and CEO. Dr. Ollmann Saphire’s research explains, at the molecular level, how and why viruses are pathogenic and provides the roadmap for medical defense. Her work also focuses on the differences in fundamental immunology of women versus men, which drive different disease propensities and outcomes. Dr. Ollman Saphire has been at the center of efforts across the globe to identify therapies to prevent and treat SARS-CoV-2 and to research COVID-19 mutations. Dr. Ollmann Saphire is a leader in collaborative research, working to make scientific data more open and accessible across research silos in order to advance science.
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    Erica Ollmann Saphire – LJI WHAM Partnership

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    WHAM Erica Ollmann Saphire

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    WHAM Report Launch Event Highlight | Erica Ollmann Saphire, La Jolla Institute for Immunology

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  • Charlotte Owens, MD

    Vice President and Head of the Research and Development, Center for Health Equity and Patient Affairs, Takeda Adjunct Assistant Professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology, Morehouse School of Medicine

    Charlotte Owens, MD

    Vice President and Head of the Research and Development, Center for Health Equity and Patient Affairs, Takeda Adjunct Assistant Professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology, Morehouse School of Medicine
    Dr. Charlotte Owens has dedicated her career to women’s health. She is a leader in clinical research and an advocate for the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion and patient-centered approaches in biomedical research to advance the health of women and communities of color. Dr. Owens has practiced as an Ob-Gyn, led research including studies on uterine fibroids that took care to include African American women who are disproportionately affected. Prior to joining Takeda, she was the Therapeutic Area Lead in U.S. Medical Affairs for Women’s Health at AbbVie.

  • Lisa Poulikakos, PhD

    Assistant Professor, UC San Diego Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

    Lisa Poulikakos, PhD

    Assistant Professor, UC San Diego Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
    Lisa Poulikakos is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at UCSD. She received her PhD in Mechanical and Process Engineering at ETH Zürich, where she introduced an original theoretical and experimental technique to enable the rational design of chiral nanophotonic systems. Her postdoctoral research in Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University focused on developing functional nanophotonic surfaces for all-optical and label-free cancer tissue diagnostics. Her lab at UCSD develops chiral and anisotropic nanophotonic materials e.g. for next-generation imaging and on-chip tissue diagnostics. She is a recipient of the ETH Medal, awarded to outstanding doctoral theses, the L’Oréal USA For Women in Science Postdoctoral Fellowship, the Swiss National Science Foundation Early Postdoc Mobility Fellowship, the RCSA Scialog Fellowship for Advancing Bioimaging, the UCSD MRSEC New Investigator Award, the Beckman Young Investigator Award and the AFOSR Young Investigator Program Award.

  • Azra Raza, MD

    Chan Soon-Shiong Professor of Medicine, Clinical Director of the Evans Foundation MDS Center & Executive Director of The First Cell Coalition for Cancer Survivors at Columbia University

    Azra Raza, MD

    Chan Soon-Shiong Professor of Medicine, Clinical Director of the Evans Foundation MDS Center & Executive Director of The First Cell Coalition for Cancer Survivors at Columbia University
    Dr. Azra Raza is the Chan Soon-Shiong Professor of Medicine, Clinical Director of the Evans Foundation MDS Center, and Executive Director of The First Cell Coalition for Cancer Survivors at Columbia University in New York. Dr. Raza completed her medical education in Pakistan, training in Internal Medicine at the University of Maryland, Franklin Square Hospital and Georgetown/VA Medical Center in Washington, D.C. and completed her fellowship in Medical Oncology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York. She started her research in Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) in 1984 and moved to Rush University, Chicago, Illinois in 1992, where she was the Charles Arthur Weaver Professor in Oncology and Director, Division of Myeloid Diseases. The MDS program, along with a Tissue Repository containing more than 60,000 samples from MDS and acute leukemia patients was successfully relocated to Columbia University in 2010. Before moving to New York, Dr. Raza was the Chief of Hematology Oncology and the Gladys Smith Martin Professor of Oncology at the University of Massachusetts in Worcester. She has published the results of her laboratory research and clinical trials in prestigious, peer reviewed journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, Nature, Blood, Cell, Cancer Cell, PNAS, Cancer, Cancer Research, British Journal of Hematology, Leukemia, Leukemia Research.

    Dr. Raza has mentored hundreds of medical students, residents, oncology fellows, doctoral and post-doctoral students in the last three decades. She serves on numerous National and International panels as a reviewer, consultant and advisor. Raza has collaborated on multiple high yielding large research projects with pharmaceutical companies including Celgene, Novartis, Regeneron and Grail Inc, and serves on the Board of GRAIL Inc.

    Raza is the recipient of a number of awards including The First Lifetime Achievement Award from APPNA, Award in Academic Excellence twice (2007 and 2010) from Dogana, and Woman of the Year Award from Safeer e Pakistan, CA, The Hope Award in Cancer Research 2012 (shared with the Nobel Laureate Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn) and the 2016 and 2019 Recognition Award from Developments in Literacy. Dr. Raza has been named as one of the 100 Women Who Matter by Newsweek Pakistan. In 2015, Dr. Raza was a member of the Founder Group at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, designing Breakthrough Developments in Science and Technology with President Bill Clinton. On December 1, 2015, Dr. Raza was part of a core group of cancer researchers who met with Vice President Joe Biden to discuss the Cancer Moonshot initiative.

    She is also the co-author of GHALIB: Epistemologies of Elegance, a book on the works of the famous Urdu poet. She believes that the best way to “tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world” is by promoting and publicizing the achievements of humanity in science, art, and literature. She was married to the late Harvey D. Preisler, Director, Rush University Cancer Center in Chicago and has a daughter Sheherzad Raza Preisler who also lives in New York.

  • Judith Regensteiner, PhD

    Director, Center for Women’s Health Research, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Internal Medicine and Cardiology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

    Judith Regensteiner, PhD

    Director, Center for Women’s Health Research, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Internal Medicine and Cardiology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
    Dr. Judith Regensteiner’s research focuses on the cardiovascular effects of diabetes with a specific focus on women with type 2 diabetes, because they appear to have more significant abnormalities than men with type 2 diabetes. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in women, yet only one-third of participants in clinical trials of cardiovascular disease are women. Dr. Regensteiner’s work showcases the substantial sex- and gender-based differences in cardiovascular disease and the importance of studying women in clinical research. As the co-founder and Director of the Center for Women’s Health Research, Dr. Regensteiner also leads an interdisciplinary team of researchers focusing on women’s health and sex differences in clinical research.

  • Veronique Roger, MD, MPH, FACC, FAHA

    Chief, Epidemiology and Community Health Branch, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NHLBI/NIH) Adjunct Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, Consultant, Mayo Clinic

    Veronique Roger, MD, MPH, FACC, FAHA

    Chief, Epidemiology and Community Health Branch, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NHLBI/NIH) Adjunct Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, Consultant, Mayo Clinic
    Dr. Roger received her medical degree in 1986 from Sorbonne University in Paris, France and her Master in Public Health (Epidemiology) at the University of Minnesota in 1996. After training in cardiology at Mayo Clinic, in Rochester Minnesota, she joined the faculty in 1992 and became Professor in Medicine (2002) and Epidemiology (2006). At Mayo Clinic, Dr. Roger served in various leadership positions including Chair of the Department of Health Sciences Research and member of the Mayo Clinic Board of Governors and Board of Trustees.

    Dr. Roger served on the NHLBI Advisory Council and the NHLBI Board of Scientific Counselors. She chaired the Epidemiology Council of the American Heart Association 2018-2020 and was recognized as the American Heart Association Distinguished Investigator in 2019.

    The unifying theme of Dr. Roger’s work is the epidemiology of heart diseases, and their occurrence and outcomes in diverse communities. As a physician scientist, Dr. Roger has deployed, directly and through collaborations, multidisciplinary methods including epidemiology, outcomes and health care delivery analyses, behavioral sciences and the use of electronic health records in population research applied to case ascertainment, risk prediction and pragmatic trials.

  • Stacey E. Rosen, MD, FACC, FACP, FAHA

    Senior Vice President, Women's Health, Katz Institute for Women's Health, Northwell Health Partners Council Professor of Women's Health, Professor of Cardiology, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell

    Stacey E. Rosen, MD, FACC, FACP, FAHA

    Senior Vice President, Women's Health, Katz Institute for Women's Health, Northwell Health Partners Council Professor of Women's Health, Professor of Cardiology, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
    Dr. Stacey E. Rosen is a practicing cardiologist and the Senior Vice President for Northwell Health’s Katz Institute for Women’s Health. At the Katz Institute, Dr. Rosen focuses on the elimination of health care disparities through comprehensive clinical programs, gender-based research, community partnerships and education. Dr. Rosen is the co-author of Heart Smarter for Women: Six Weeks to a Healthier Heart and produced the movie, Ms. Diagnosed, to showcase the real women whose lives and families have been disastrously affected by the inequities women face in receiving medical care. Dr. Rosen is the Partners Council Professor of Women’s Health and a Professor of Cardiology at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell.
    Video

    Dr. Stacey Rosen WHAM-AHA Heart Event Clip

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    Video

    WHAM Heart Report | Good Day New York Interview with Dr. Stacey Rosen & Susan Lucci

    To launch the WHAM Report on Coronary Artery Disease, WHAM Collaborative member Dr. Stacey Rosen of Northwell Health and actress & American Heart Association Advocate Susan Lucci of All My Children spoke to Good Day New York about the importance of women-focused heart health.

    WATCH VIDEO
    Video

    Dr. Stacey Rosen, WHAM Collaborative Member

    Dr. Stacey Rosen is the Senior Vice President for Women’s Health at the Katz Institute for Women’s Health at Northwell as well as the Health Partners Council Professor of Women’s Health at Hofstra North Shore-LJI School.

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  • Sharyn Rossi, PhD

    Director, Scientific Programs, Neuroscience, BrightFocus Foundation

    Sharyn Rossi, PhD

    Director, Scientific Programs, Neuroscience, BrightFocus Foundation
    Dr. Rossi uses her multidisciplinary background in central nervous system injury and mechanisms of aging to implement research initiatives, initiate and maintain institutional collaborations, and foster relationships with scientists and key stakeholders, while overseeing an active portfolio of $41 million consisting of nearly 150 grants spanning 14 countries in her role at BrightFocus. Her expertise includes: Traumatic Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury, Aging, Neuroanatomy, Neurodegeneration and plasticity, Stem Cell Biology, and Neuroimaging. She holds a PhD from the University of California, Irvine and completed postdoctoral work at A.I. duPont Children’s Hospital and Johns Hopkins University.

  • Kathryn Sandberg, PhD

    Professor and Vice Chair for Research, Department of Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center Director, Center for the Study of Sex Differences in Health, Aging, and Disease, Georgetown University Director, Predoc and Postdoc Training Program, Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Science

    Kathryn Sandberg, PhD

    Professor and Vice Chair for Research, Department of Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center Director, Center for the Study of Sex Differences in Health, Aging, and Disease, Georgetown University Director, Predoc and Postdoc Training Program, Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Science
    Dr. Sandberg’s research focuses on the molecular mechanisms underlying the sex differences in the incidence and rate of progression of hypertension and associated cardiovascular and renal disease. Dr. Sandberg has found that the incidence and rate of progression of these disease states is higher in men than age-matched women, until women reach menopause. After menopause, women rapidly catch up with men. Through Dr. Sandberg’s research, we will develop a better understanding of cardiovascular disease risks evolve for both men and women during aging.

  • Londa Schiebinger

    Founding Director, EU/US Gendered Innovations in Science, Health & Medicine, Engineering and Environment Project John L. Hinds Professor of History of Science, Stanford University

    Londa Schiebinger

    Founding Director, EU/US Gendered Innovations in Science, Health & Medicine, Engineering and Environment Project John L. Hinds Professor of History of Science, Stanford University
    Londa Schiebinger is the John Professor of History of Science at Stanford University, and Founding Director of Gendered Innovations in Science, Health & Medicine, Engineering, and Environment. Schiebinger is a leading international expert on gender in science and technology and has addressed the United Nations, the European Parliament, and the Korean National Assembly on that topic. Schiebinger received her Ph.D. from Harvard University and is an elected member of recipient of numerous prizes and awards, including the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Research Prize and Guggenheim Fellowship. ee AI can be Sexist and Racist—It’s Time to Make it Fair Nature Sex and Gender Analysis Improves Science and Engineering Nature (2019); Ensuring that Biomedical AI Benefits Diverse Populations EBioMedicine (2021); Gender-Related Variables for Health Research Biology of Sex (2021); Gendered Innovations 2: How Inclusive Analysis Contributes to Research and Innovation European Commission (2020); A Framework for Sex, Gender, and Diversity Analysis in Research: Funding Agencies Have Ample Room to Improve Their Policies Science (2022).

  • Katherine Sharkey, MD, PhD

    Associate Dean for Gender Equity, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Associate Professor of Medicine, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Human Behavior, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

    Katherine Sharkey, MD, PhD

    Associate Dean for Gender Equity, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Associate Professor of Medicine, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Human Behavior, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
    Katherine “Katie” Sharkey is a recognized expert in sleep, circadian rhythms, and sleep disorders, particularly as they relate to women’s health and psychiatric illness. Sharkey is board certified in Sleep Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Psychiatry and is a fellow of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the American College of Physicians. Dr. Sharkey serves as an Associate Editor of Behavioral Sleep Medicine and Frontiers in Sleep, and is on the editorial board of Sleep Health. Her research is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.

  • Sonia Sharma, PhD

    Associate Professor Center for Autoimmunity and Inflammation, Center for Cancer Immunotherapy, Center for Sex-based Differences in the Immune System

    Sonia Sharma, PhD

    Associate Professor Center for Autoimmunity and Inflammation, Center for Cancer Immunotherapy, Center for Sex-based Differences in the Immune System
    Dr. Sonia Sharma’s current research focuses on using unbiased, genome-scale approaches to unravel innate immunity, the body’s early immune response to microbial pathogens and neoplastic cells, which has also been implicated as a common causal factor in many inflammatory, allergic and autoimmune diseases. She integrates cutting-edge genetics, biochemistry, cell biology, computational and translational approaches to define the key genetic mechanisms regulating cellular innate immunity, and determine how they impact human health and disease.

  • Primavera Spagnolo, MD, PhD

    Associate Director & Scientific Director of the First.in.Women Precision Medicine Platform, Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women's Health and Gender Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School

    Primavera Spagnolo, MD, PhD

    Associate Director & Scientific Director of the First.in.Women Precision Medicine Platform, Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women's Health and Gender Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School
    Dr. Spagnolo, MD, PhD, is the Scientific Director of the Connors Center First.In.Women Precision Medicine Platform. She is a Research Scientist in the Department of Psychiatry, a faculty member at Harvard Medical School, and the Program Director of the First.In.Women Fellowship in sex- and gender-informed research. She holds an MD in Medicine and Surgery and a PhD in Pharmacology from Sapienza University in Rome, Italy and is specialized in Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine. Dr. Spagnolo comes to us from the NIH, where since 2012 she has served first as a Research Fellow and then as a Research Scientist, with a joint appointment at the National Institute of Alcohol Use and Alcoholism, the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Neurological Disorders and Stroke.Over the last ten years, she has has been a principal investigator or co-investigator of numerous studies investigating the neurobiological underpinnings, inter-relationships among, and treatment of addictive disorders and stress-related disorders, with a focus on the role of the endocannabinoid system. She is also studying functional neurological/conversion disorders, a female-prevalent, stress-related neuropsychiatric disorder. Her research uses endophenotype-based approaches that span across these diagnostic categories and combines different techniques and interventions, including neuromodulation and neuroimaging, behavioral pharmacology and genetics. She has been the recipient of several awards, including from the Society of Biological Psychiatry, the NIH, the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology and the College on Problems of Drug Dependence. Her work is supported by the BWH/Connors IGNITE Program, the NIH, the SCORE ROSA Center, and the BWH Women’s Brain Initiative.

  • Suzanne Steinbaum, DO

    Private Practice Cardiologist Co-Founder and President, SRSHeart

    Suzanne Steinbaum, DO

    Private Practice Cardiologist Co-Founder and President, SRSHeart
    Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum is a cardiologist, specializing in prevention, and is an expert in women and heart disease. Dr. Steinbaum has devoted her career to the treatment of heart disease through early detection, education, and prevention. She is an active spokesperson for women’s heart health, is a regular contributor to many TV and print news outlets, and speaks at leading health summits. Dr. Steinbaum has spoken at the United Nations, been featured on Good Morning America and The View, and has published several books on women’s cardiovascular health.
    Video

    Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, WHAM Collaborative Member

    Dr. Steinbaum is a New York City-based cardiologist, a fellow for the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association, and author of the book Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum’s Heart Book: Every Woman’s Guide to a Heart-Healthy Life.

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  • Miho Tanaka, MD

    Director, Women’s Sports Medicine Program, Massachusetts General Hospital Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Harvard Medical School

    Miho Tanaka, MD

    Director, Women’s Sports Medicine Program, Massachusetts General Hospital Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Harvard Medical School
    Dr. Tanaka is a sports medicine surgeon and Founding Director of the Women’s Sports Medicine Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Her primary research focus on the biomechanics, imaging and surgical anatomy of the knee has been supported by grants and awards from the Patellofemoral Foundation and Arthroscopy Association of North America. She serves as a team physician for the Boston Red Sox, Boston Glory, and Boston Ballet. She has interest in promoting advances in improving the understanding and prevention of injuries unique to female athletes, and is the founder of the Journal of Women’s Sports Medicine and co-founder of CORE2U, a digital platform for exercise education during pregnancy.

    Miho Tanaka, MD

    scholar.harvard.edu
    massgeneral.org

  • Cara Tannenbaum, MD, MSc, CM

    Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Canada

    Cara Tannenbaum, MD, MSc, CM

    Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Canada
    Dr. Cara Tannenbaum served as the former Scientific Director of the Institute of Gender and Health at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research from 2015-2022. In this capacity she oversaw the successful implementation of Canada’s sex and gender research policy, developed training modules and incentives for Canadian medical research institutes, and launched Canada’s national women’s health funding initiative. Dr. Tannenbaum provides internationally recognized leadership on the integration of sex and gender into research, practice and policy, She has advised the European Commission, the NIH, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust UK, ZonMW, and Australia on their gender in research and innovation programs.

    Dr. Tannenbaum obtained her medical degree at McGill University, is a Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the Université de Montréal, and has published over 160 articles and book chapters including in JAMA, the Lancet, BMJ, Nature and PNAS on topics related to sex and gender, drug safety, women’s health and geriatrics. She has received several prestigious awards, including the May Cohen Gender Equity Award from the Association of Faculties of Medicine Canada, the Canadian Trailblazer Award for Exceptional Contributions to Science Policy, and membership in the Order of Canada.

  • Rebecca Thurston, PhD, FABMR, FSBSM

    Chair of Women’s Health and Dementia, Pittsburgh Foundation Director, Women’s Biobehavioral Health Program and Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology & Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh

    Rebecca Thurston, PhD, FABMR, FSBSM

    Chair of Women’s Health and Dementia, Pittsburgh Foundation Director, Women’s Biobehavioral Health Program and Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology & Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh
    Rebecca C. Thurston, PhD, FAMBR, FSBSM is Pittsburgh Foundation Chair of Women’s Health and Dementia; Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Epidemiology; and Director of the Women’s Biobehavioral Health Program at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Thurston is an expert in the menopause, its symptoms, and women’s cardiovascular and brain health. She is a Principal Investigator of the MsHeart/MsBrain studies as well as of the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation, a 25+ year cohort study providing foundational menopause knowledge. Dr. Thurston is also an active clinical psychologist specializing in menopause care. She has authored over 200 publications. Her work is routinely featured in media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, Forbes, and CNN. Dr. Thurston is a recipient of the International Menopause Society’s Henry Burger Award for excellence in menopause science, is an elected fellow of the Society for Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine and of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, and is past president of The Menopause Society.

  • Connie Tyne

    Executive Director, Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health

    Connie Tyne

    Executive Director, Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health
    Connie Tyne has a passion for keeping people healthy, particularly women who have been underserved in health care. As the Executive Director of the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health, Ms. Tyne promotes women’s health causes by funding research, providing education to healthcare professionals, and sponsoring community programs and health screenings for women and girls around the country.
    Video

    Connie Tyne, WHAM Collaborative Member

    Connie Tyne is the Executive Director of the Laura Bush Institute for Women’s Health at Texas Tech University.

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  • Annabelle Volgman, MD

    Founder and Medical Director, Rush Heart Center for Women Professor of Medicine, McMullan-Eybel Chair for Excellence in Clinical Cardiology, Rush University Medical Center

    Annabelle Volgman, MD

    Founder and Medical Director, Rush Heart Center for Women Professor of Medicine, McMullan-Eybel Chair for Excellence in Clinical Cardiology, Rush University Medical Center
    Dr. Annabelle Volgman is the co-founder and medical director of the Rush Heart Center for Women, the first heart program in Chicago devoted exclusively to women. Dr. Volgman has dedicated her career to helping women through prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Her research has been pivotal in atrial fibrillation, the most common cardiac arrhythmia that disproportionately affects the risk of stroke in women. Dr. Volgman has written numerous abstracts and articles on women, stroke and heart disease. She is a prominent leader with the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women campaign and was featured in O Magazine as Oprah Winfrey’s cardiologist.
    Video

    Dr. Annabelle Santos Volgman

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  • Janice Werbinski, MD, FACOG, FAMWA, NCMP

    Immediate Past President, American Medical Women's Association Clinical Associate Professor Emerita, Western Michigan University Homer Stryker School of Medicine (WMed)

    Janice Werbinski, MD, FACOG, FAMWA, NCMP

    Immediate Past President, American Medical Women's Association Clinical Associate Professor Emerita, Western Michigan University Homer Stryker School of Medicine (WMed)
    Dr. Janice Werbinski is a retired OB/GYN physician with a passion for women's empowerment and advancing education in sex and gender-based medicine to improve the health and healthcare of both women and men. She is former Medical Director of Bronson Women's Center, Borgess Women's Health, and the YWCA Sexual Assault Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She is board-certified in OB/GYN and a Certified Menopause Provider. She practiced Women's Health and Gynecology for 40 years, retiring from clinical practice in 2014.

  • Nicole Woitowich, PhD

    Executive Director, The WHAM Collaborative Research Assistant Professor of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University Center Administrator, Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Northwestern University

    Nicole Woitowich, PhD

    Executive Director, The WHAM Collaborative Research Assistant Professor of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University Center Administrator, Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Northwestern University
    Dr. Nicole Woitowich focuses on the evaluation of the biomedical research enterprise through various lenses, such as the integration of science outreach into existing research infrastructure, and the advancement of women and minorities in STEM and medicine to help bridge the gap in women’s health research. As Associate Director of the Women’s Health Research Institute at Northwestern University, Dr. Woitowich is a fierce advocate for expanded women’s health research, putting a spotlight on the effects of sex and gender on health.
    Video

    Dr. Nicole Woitowich, WHAM Collaborative Member

    Dr. Nicole Woitowich is the Center Administrator at the Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences at Northwestern University.

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  • Susan Wood, PhD

    Director, Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health Research Professor, Health Policy and Management, George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health

    Susan Wood, PhD

    Director, Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health Research Professor, Health Policy and Management, George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health
    Dr. Susan Wood’s work and public advocacy focuses on the use of scientific knowledge in public policy. She previously was Assistant Commissioner for Women’s Health at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and directed the FDA Office of Women’s Health from 2000-2005 when she resigned on principle over continued delay of approval of over-the-counter emergency contraception. Prior to her time at FDA, Dr. Wood was Director of Policy and Program Development at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health. Previously, Dr. Wood was a research scientist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; she received her PhD in biology from Boston University. She has published a number of research articles in scientific journals, as well as articles on health policy.

WHAM is dedicated to funding women’s health research and investment to transform women’s lives.

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WHAM was created in response to the considerable funding gap, historical exclusion, and underrepresentation of women in health research.

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