Women's Health Updates — April 2022

Learn about recent developments in women's health as well as SWHR's activities that promote the study of sex and gender influences on health and serve our mission to improve women's health through science, policy, and education.
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SWHR is proud to honor Wanda Barfield, MD, MPH, FAAP, Sudip S. Parikh, PhD, and Pfizer at its 2022 Annual Awards Gala. These leaders have advanced maternal health, increased access for women in the scientific workforce, and developed a COVID-19 vaccine in record time, respectively. Read more about the Gala here. Follow the event on social media at #SWHRGala.

The event will take place on April 28, 2022 at the InterContinental Washington, DC – The Wharf. Find sponsorship and ticket information here, or contact Joy Braun, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships, at joy@swhr.org or 202.496.5001.
SWHR LAUNCHES 2022 WOMEN'S HEALTH POLICY AGENDA
SWHR recently released its Women’s Health Policy Agenda for the year, outlining policies that SWHR supports across five key areas: public health, research & clinical trials, lifespan issues, coverage & access, and biomedical workforce.

This policy agenda will serve as a roadmap to advance the health and well-being of women in 2022 and beyond. Learn more about new additions to this year's Agenda on the SWHR blog here.

LATEST SWHR RESOURCES
"You are not an infertile person, you are a person living with infertility," Davina Fankhauser said at SWHR's fertility public forum, The Fertility Journey: Understanding Options and Navigating Care, this March.

Davina Fankhauser, MA, from Fertility Within Reach, Tarun Jain, MD, at Northwestern University School of Medicine, and Barbara Collura with RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association discussed infertility treatment options and access to care during the event. Watch the event recording here.
See event takeaways on social media at #SWHRtalksFertility.

Learn more about reproductive life planning and addressing infertility with SWHR's resource guides:

Share your fertility story by emailing communications@swhr.org with your full name, contact information, and a short summary of your story. Your story may be featured on the SWHR website!

What is SWHR reading? "Egg freezing, IVF and surrogacy: Fertility benefits have evolved to become the ultimate workplace perk" in CNBC discusses the increasing availability of fertility health coverage through many employers. Understand more about your fertility finance and coverage options in SWHR's most recent fertility journey event.
Autoimmune diseases are a leading cause of disability in the United States, and women represent more than 80% of autoimmune patients.

SWHR's new commentary in Women’s Health Issues examines research gaps, disease burden, and policy opportunities related to Addressing Autoimmune and Immune-mediated Skin Disease Burden in Women.

Check out more of SWHR's autoimmune skin resources:

Join the conversation on social media at #SWHRtalksSkin.

Share your autoimmune story by emailing communications@swhr.org with your full name, contact information, and a short summary of your story. Your story may be featured on the SWHR website!
SWHR IN THE NEWS
The Value of Prevention in Combatting Cervical Cancer: SWHR CEO Kathryn Schubert wrote an article for FutureofPersonalHealth.com discussing the significant health and economic burden of cervical cancer. More than 11,000 women receive diagnoses and more than 4,000 women die each year in the United States due to cervical cancer. Read the article here.
Lessons Learned: Stories from Women Physician Leaders: SWHR founder Dr. Florence Haseltine is profiled in a new book featuring over 30 stories of women physicians who have defied the odds, overcome obstacles, and followed paths in from clinical medicine to leadership within government, academia, hospitals, pharma, consulting, and more. Use promo code Shlian15 for 15% off the book (or 15% all other AAPL products) and pick up a copy today.

Explore more new stories featuring SWHR on the website here.
UPCOMING EVENTS

In the next Value of Diagnostics within Women’s Health public forum, experts will discuss impacts of and screenings options for sexually transmitted infections. Register to join us on Wednesday, April 13, 2022 at 12:00 p.m. ET. Follow the conversation on social media at #SWHRtalksDiagnostics and #SWHRtalksSexualHealth.

SWHR Chief Science Officer, Irene Aninye PhD, will be moderating a session on "The Impact of Quality Improvement Research on Women’s Health Business," at 10:00 a.m. ET during Xpectives.Health Summit’s 2022 Innovations in Women’s Health Conference, in Boston, Mass. on April 21, 2022. Learn more and register here.
Check out SWHR's event calendar for more SWHR and other women's health events.
POLICY

SWHR provided comments on the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-Wide Strategic Plan for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility, noting considerations for women and people of color. Read more here.

SWHR released a statement on the president’s budget for fiscal year 2023. In its statement, SWHR called for robust, sustained investments in the nation’s public health and research agencies. Read the full statement here.
SWHR is pleased to support the bipartisan resolution designating March 2022 as Endometriosis Awareness Month. The resolution was introduced by Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.). Read the press release here. Learn more about endometriosis on social media at #SWHRtalksEndometriosis.


What is SWHR reading? "Report of the Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health: Fiscal Years 2019–2020" by NIH's Office of Research on Women’s Health highlights office accomplishments in the fields of women’s health research, workforce and grantee diversity, and more.

"What If Groundbreaking Medicines Never Existed?" by the National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC) explores what health gains might have been lost without innovations for six serious diseases, including breast cancer and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Learn more about diagnostic innovations to treat diseases like arthritis in SWHR's Bone Health Across the Lifespan event on May 18, 2022.

See more of SWHR's recent policy work online here.
FROM THE BLOG

Women's History Month each March provides a time to reflect on the state of women's health research and explore how else the field can grow. Read more here.

Women and girls can suffer disproportionately during and after war. Read more about the impact of Russia’s invasion on Ukrainian women and girls, on the blog now.

Discover how Juana Mata took a lupus diagnosis into her own hands and became a disease advocate. Check out Juana's story here.
Read all of SWHR's most recent blogs online here.

What is SWHR reading? "Women see more adverse events with chemotherapy and newer cancer treatments, study finds" in STAT explores how such severe adverse effects are in part because sex differences are not always accounted for during cancer research. Learn more about cancer prevention and care in this SWHR paper about HPV, in Journal of Women’s Health and on #SWHRtalksHPV.
LOOKING FOR MORE RESEARCH?

Biology of Sex Differences, a publication of SWHR, publishes new articles each month with a focus on sex differences in physiology, behavior, and disease. Check out some of the latests articles below.
Follow Biology of Sex Differences on Twitter here.
SHARE YOUR STORY WITH SWHR
Do you have a personal women's health story you want to share with SWHR? Share your stories about diagnoses, seeking care, and living with narcolepsy, lupus, psoriatic arthritis, menopause, Alzheimer’s disease, managing your bone health, undergoing prenatal screening, or another women's health conditions. Email communications@swhr.org with your full name, contact information, and a short summary of your story (or click the link below), and your story could be featured on the SWHR website!
Did someone forward you this email? Looking for more news on women's health research?