Women's Health Updates — May 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.
Did someone forward you this email? Looking for more news on women's health research? 
THANK YOU FOR JOINING US AT THE ANNUAL AWARDS GALA!

SWHR honored Wanda Barfield, MD, MPH, FAAP, Sudip S. Parikh, PhD, and Pfizer at its 2022 Annual Awards Gala in April, for their work in advancing women's health and research. Kaveeta Vasisht, MD, PharmD, Associate Commissioner for Women’s Health at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, gave keynote remarks at the event. Read recap of the event up on SWHR's blog now.

Check out all the event images online here. Find updates from the event on social media at #SWHRGala.
THE WOMEN'S HEALTH EQUITY INITIATIVE
SWHR launched the new Women’s Health Equity Initiative at the gala, which aims to engage communities on solutions to improve health equity across multiple disease states, conditions, and life stages, and highlights statistics on women’s health in the United States.
The Women's Health Equity Initiative includes a health disparities map and video interviews with caregivers, patients, and clinicians. Learn more about disparities and areas for improvement in the Initiative's four initial focus areas of Alzheimer's disease, bone health, maternal health, and menopause care. SWHR will cover other issues as part of the Initiative's work in the future and continues to seek sponsors and health care stakeholders interested in supporting SWHR’s health equity work. Please reach out to Joy Braun, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships, at joy@swhr.org or 202.496.5001 to learn more about partnering.

Stay tuned for more about the Women’s Health Equity Initiative this May, in recognition of National Women's Health Month. Follow along for updates on social media at #SWHRHealthEquity.
MAY AWARENESS MONTHS
CELEBRATE NATIONAL WOMEN'S HEALTH MONTH

This May marks National Women's Health Month and May 8 to May 14 marks National Women's Health Week. Join SWHR in celebrating women's health, learning about the history of sex differences in medicine, and hearing the stories of women living well with a variety of health conditions.

Follow @SWHR on social media all month long to explore women's health. Tag SWHR and use #NationalWomensHealthMonth #NationalWomensHealthWeek #NWHW to share how you are celebrating National Women's Health Month this May.

Share your story with SWHR in honor of National Women's Health Month this May. Do you have a personal women's health story to share? Share 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 condition. 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!
RECOGNIZE OSTEOPOROSIS AWARENESS AND PREVENTION MONTH

May marks Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month, bringing awareness to bone health across the lifespan. Women account for 80% of Americans living with osteoporosis. Learn more about bone health disparities in the new Women’s Health Equity Initiative.
SWHR is hosting two events this month:

Follow @SWHR and @bonehealthBHOF on social media to learn more about preventing and caring for osteoporosis. #OAPM2022 #SWHRtalksBoneHealth

Share your bone health story with SWHR 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!

Check out SWHR on Twitter at @SWHR to learn about more awareness days this May.
LATEST SWHR RESOURCES
Addressing sexual health stigma is crucial to improving early detection and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, panelists at SWHR's Improving Lives by Detecting Sexually Transmitted Infections Early public forum said.

Watch the recording to hear insights from panelists Claire Bristow, PhD, MPH, MSc (University of California San Diego), Fred Wyand (American Sexual Health Association), and June Gipson, PhD, EdS (My Brother’s Keeper, Inc.).
This webinar was the most recent event in SWHR's "Value of Diagnostics within Women’s Health" series. See event takeaways on social media at #SWHRtalksDiagnostics and #SWHRtalksSexualHealth.

What is SWHR reading? "One-dose Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine offers solid protection against cervical cancer," the World Health Organization's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) recently reported. "This could be a game-changer for the prevention of the disease; seeing more doses of the life-saving jab reach more girls," WHO stated. Learn more about HPV screening and cervical cancer prevention in SWHR's diagnostics series.
On March 31, 2022, SWHR convened a Narcolepsy Working Group of health care providers, researchers, patients and patient advocates, and policy leaders for a roundtable meeting to discuss scientific and policy issues around narcolepsy in women. The conversation covered strategies for better symptom management and improving access to treatments and care. Insights from the working group are up on SWHR's blog: Rising to a Better Tomorrow: Addressing the Impact of Narcolepsy on Women’s Health.

Join the conversation on social media at #SWHRtalksSleep.

Check out more of SWHR's sleep resources:
• Resource: Women & Sleep Apnea

Share your narcolepsy or sleep 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!
UPCOMING EVENTS

In the next "Value of Diagnostics within Women’s Health" public forum, experts will discuss bone health in women. Register to join us on Wednesday, May 18, 2022 at 12:00 p.m. ET. Follow the conversation on social media at #SWHRtalksDiagnostics and #SWHRtalksBoneHealth.

Mark your calendar for upcoming diagnostics events on Fertility and Hormone Health and Ovarian Cancer Screening.

Hosted by NIH's Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) each year, the Annual Vivian W. Pinn Symposium honors the first full-time Director of ORWH, Dr. Vivian W. Pinn, and observes National Women’s Health Week. Save the date for May 12, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. ET. Learn more and register here.

Hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University, Health of Women 2022 will address the challenges and nuances of sex and gender medicine. SWHR will host a pre-conference symposium on June 23, 2022, 12:00 – 1:30 p.m. ET. Register today.

This national webinar and congressional briefing will discuss osteoporosis's disproportionate impact on women and society. Register to join us on Tuesday, May 24, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. ET. Follow along on social media at #SWHRtalksBoneHealth.
SWHR attended the OSSD 2022 Annual Meeting, May 2-5, 2022. Follow updates from the event at #OSSD2022.

Check out SWHR's event calendar for more SWHR and other women's health events.
POLICY
Despite the progress in women’s health in recent decades, we still have much to accomplish to ensure the optimal health of all women nationwide. SWHR's annual Women’s Health Policy Agenda explores five key areas of this work. Read the full Agenda today.

What is SWHR reading? "Men and women may respond differently to vaccines. Research needs to account for that" by STAT First Opinion shares author Dawn Sinclair Shapiro's comments on studying sex differences. Read more about sex differences in COVID vaccine response on the SWHR blog.

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

Esther became her own patient advocate after she was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer at age 39. Read her story today.

Dr. Nicole Danos started researching how pregnancy and lactation affects muscle function after she became pregnant. Read about her work on the blog.
Read all of SWHR's most recent blogs online here.


What is SWHR reading? "The Ukrainian Refugee Crisis Is a Women’s Crisis" from The New York Time states that 90% of displaced people amid the Ukrainian refugee crisis in Poland are currently women and children. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has had an immense impact on women and girls in the region. Read more on SWHR's blog.
HealthyWomen is looking for patient voices of women who have been denied access to their specific birth control of choice by their insurance companies. Do you have a personal story to share? Sharing your experience will help HealthyWomen educate other women and policymakers on the topic. Please reach out to Caroline Koller at caroline@healthywomen.com to share your story.
Did someone forward you this email? Looking for more news on women's health research?