Women's Health Updates — January 2022

Happy New Year! 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.
Join us at SWHR’s 2022 Annual Awards Gala on Thursday, April 28, 2022 at the InterContinental Washington, DC – The Wharf to celebrate achievements, advancements, and innovations in women’s health. Sponsorship or event ticket info can be found here and you can read more about the event here. For additional information, please contact Joy Braun, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships at joy@swhr.org or 202.496.5001.
SWHR EDUCATES ON GENETIC SCREENING AND EYE HEALTH
Genetic screening can help women better navigate decisions decisions about their reproductive health and pregnancy management, and may improve maternal and fetal outcomes.

SWHR's new roadmap, created with the help of SWHR's Genetic Screening Working Group, was developed to raise awareness, expand education, and improve implementation of genetic screening among women and their families, health care providers, and policy stakeholders.

As part of SWHR’s Eye Health Program, this fall, SWHR convened a diverse and interdisciplinary working group of clinical and public health researchers, health care providers, patients and patient advocates, and policy leaders for a women's eye health roundtable discussion on the health, social, and economic impacts of eye diseases and conditions that disproportionately or differently affect women.

On December 16, 2021, SWHR hosted a public forum on women's eye health, bringing together experts and patient advocates to highlight common eye diseases that affect women and discuss how to navigate access and management of care for these conditions.


Check out the fact sheet: A Look at Women’s Eye Health.

Read the recent publication of SWHR's work in women's eye health: The Roles of Sex and Gender in Women’s Eye Health Disparities in the United States.

Stay tuned for the full women's eye health patient toolkit, releasing this January 2022!
FROM THE BLOG
SWHR spoke with Taiwo Ajao, MPH, RN, IBCLC CD (DONA) a maternal-newborn nurse, lactation consultant, and doula, and Jenifer LaNore, MSW, LCSW-C, PMH-C, a trained full-spectrum doula (DTI) and owner of Gracefully Balanced Perinatal Counseling, LLC, about postpartum depression, including its warning signs, risk factors, and resources available. Read the blog post here.
This guest blog by the Society of Interventional Radiology shares insights about some of the treatment options available for women facing pelvis conditions like uterine fibroids and infertility, made possible with the help of an interventional radiologist. Read the full blog post here.
ADDITIONAL SWHR RESOURCES
Building on insights from a series of interdisciplinary meetings and events with expert researchers, clinicians, patient advocates, and health care policy leaders focused on Human papillomavirus (HPV), a report from SWHR was published in Journal of Women’s Health, capturing the current landscape of HPV-related anogenital cancers.


Check out a recent SWHR blog on the topic: New Paper Sheds Light on HPV-Related Cancers Landscape.
SWHR released the third of its autoimmune skin management and care fact sheets in December 2021, focused on atopic dermatitis. Atopic dermatitis affects an estimated 16.5 million adults in the United States, but there remain gaps in its research and treatment options. The atopic dermatitis fact sheet reviews common signs and symptoms, risk factors and impacts of the disease, and the treatment available. Read the full fact sheet: Atopic Dermatitis: Diagnosis and Management in Primary Care.


For more content, watch the autoimmune skin public forum from October 2021, featuring conversations with experts, patient advocates, and caregivers: More than Skin Deep: Understanding the Impact of Autoimmune Skin Diseases on Women’s Health.
POLICY & ADVOCACY
SWHR’s December 2021 Policy Advisory Council meeting featured insights from a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee, discussing what's next for the Committee as it relates to the FDA, Cares 2.0, and more. Read the full blog here.
UPCOMING EVENTS
On January 19, 2022, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will kick off a new series of discussions and seminars called “SeXX and Immunity,” to explore understandings of sex differences and sex dimorphism in relation to immune responses and how presentations of infectious diseases differ based on biology. Register for the event here.
Hear SWHR President & CEO Kathryn G. Schubert, MPP speak at the Reproductive Health Innovation Summit, on February 15, 2022 at 10:25 a.m. ET. Katie will be interviewing Jamie White from the National Institutes of Health in a session entitled, “Sex & Gender in Medicine, Research, and Practice”. Register for the event here.
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