As we come to the end of the special exhibit Changing the Face of Medicine, Celebrating America’s Women Physicians at the Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center here at Northwestern, we thought we’d provide a recap of some comments from our…
Health.com published an article today that summarizes the findings of a recent study on menopause and cholesterol that shows women’s cholesterol levels increase at the time of menopause. The study’s abstract can be found here, at the Journal of the American…
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) damages the white blood cells of the immune system, reducing the body’s ability to fight off bacterial infection, viruses, and other diseases such as pneumonia and some cancers. Late stage HIV is often referred to as Acquired…
A recent article by the British news source, Mail Online, titled “Sorry darling, I can’t do the vacuuming. It might damage my sperm count: The best excuse yet for men not to do the housework…” has generated media attention. The premise…
One of the beliefs of the IWHR is that a very good way to increase the visibility of women’s issues in science and medicine is to increase the number of actual women professionals in those fields. That why we were so…
It’s been all over the news this week–the US Preventative Services Task Force came out with a new set of recommendations for breast cancer screening, including recommending against yearly mammograms for women ages 40-49. Their recommendations say that there is only…
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The Institute for Women’s Health Research held its monthly forum on Tuesday with speaker Dr. Celeste Watkins-Hayes giving her talk entitled, “‘Dying from’ to ‘living with’ HIV/AIDS: Framing Institutions and the coping process of infected black women.”
Dr. Watkins-Hayes began her…
Women now comprise half of all American workers, and women are either the primary or co-breadwinners for two thirds of all American families. Maria Shiver, in conjunction with the Center for American Progress, published a fascinating new report last month that…
Recruitment for Oncofertility Saturday Academy (OSA) 2010 applicants officially began on Monday, November 9, 2009. This is the fourth consecutive year of OSA and we are expecting a very competitive pool of applicants from Young Women’s Leadership Charter School. OSA was…
Guest blog by Dr. Jennifer Hirshfeld-Cytron, Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Fellow, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Northwestern Memorial Hospital
The Obstetrics and Gynecology Grand Rounds this morning was given by past FIGO (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics) and previous chairman…
Dr. Sabra L. Klein, an assistant professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Phyllis Greenberger, the president and chief executive of the nonprofit Society for Women’s Health Research, recently wrote an opinion…
Diabetes mellitus is an endocrine disease affecting approximately 7% of the US population. Diabetes is categorized into two classes: Type 1, or insulin dependent diabetes, and Type 2, or adult onset diabetes.
Type 1 Diabetes is a condition in which the pancreas…
Aryana, Kathryn, Jenaun, Estella and Geeleeyaw at the 2009 Illinois Women’s Health Conference.
On Wednesday, October 28, 2009, five high school senior girls, who are participants of the Women’s Health Science Program for High School Girls and Beyond (WHSP), whsp.northwestern.edu, attended the…
Image: bodyandmore.auburnpub.com
Medscape Today recently wrote an article detailing the physician’s dilemma regarding delivering test results, and how this may differ based whether the results are normal or identify a potentially dangerous problem. Much of the discussion uses PAP smear results as…
Did you know that males require estrogen for many key biological processes, including spermatogenesis? Actually, many of the actions thought to be caused by testosterone in males is actually caused by estrogen signaling instead. These are some of the cool facts…
Image: Indigo Instruments
In a recent post called, “Autoimmunity and Gender”, we mentioned that one reason women are more prone to autoimmune disorders, or those conditions where the body’s immune system attacks its own cells, is because of chromosomal influence, but we…
Image: WOLDCnews.com
CNN Health has just published a nice article outlining many conditions that can be overlooked in women, including polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and several autoimmune disorders such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and…
On October 14-16, 2009 the Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH), NIH, DHHS along with Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine and Northwestern Memorial Hospital is co-hosting the fourth in a series of regional scientific workshops to explore new dimensions…
Image: NIH
As those interested in the field of women’s health, we owe a huge debt of gratitude to the people who have come before us and championed the cause. One of the giants in this regard is Dr. Ruth Kirschstein, who…
Scope
There is an enormous scientific knowledge gap regarding the sex- and gender-based differences in human experiences of health, symptom manifestation, the diagnosis of illness, and the treatment of disease. This affects the health of men and women and erodes the…
You may have noticed the NFL players wearing their pink gloves and shoes for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. But did you know that breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in American women? It is caused by abnormal cell…
Institute for Healthcare Studies Seminar Series presents:
“Illinois Women’s Health Registry: A Catalyst for Innovative Research”
Sarah Bristol-Gould, PhD
Director of Research Programs
Institute for Women’s Health Research at Northwestern University
October 8th , 2009 from 12pm to 1pm.
Room 421, Wieboldt Hall, 340 E.…
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At first glance, the items in the title of this entry don’t make any sense together – what could lowly grad students possibly have to do with the Nobel Prize?! But dig a little further and the connections become clear…
Yesterday,…
The Women’s Leadership and Mentoring Alliance, sponsored by the Institute for Women’s Health Research presents:
“Women’s Health — Does Sex Matter?”
Wednesday, October 28, 2009, 5:00-6:00 pm
A reception will be held 30 minutes prior and following the discussion
Prentice Women’s Hospital, Harris Family Foundation…
“The Promises and Myths of Breast Cancer Research”
Sunday, October 4, 2009 from 1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m.
Fairmont Chicago, 200 N. Columbus Dr.
Do you have questions about breast cancer treatment options, family history, integrative medicine, diagnosis and support? The Lynn Sage Breast…
Dr. Cynthia R. LaBella, MD
Dr. Cynthia R. LaBella, MD, kicked-off the second year of the Women’s Health Research Monthly Forum, on September 22, 2009, by presenting her research on knee injuries in female adolescent athletes to an audience of over 150…
The NIH has a pretty cool monthly podcast called “Pinn Point on Women’s Health,” which is hosted by Dr. Vivian Pinn, director of the NIH’s Office of Research on Women’s Health. For September, the topic was Autoimmune Disease in women (NIH…
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The H1N1 flu, better known by its alias “swine flu,” is still wreaking havoc around the world. Everyone is understandably concerned. Every time I am on the phone with my parents and let out something with the slightest resemblance to…
On September 9, President Obama gave a speech to the joint houses of Congress laying out his plan for health care reform. No matter what your personal politics, the outcome of such reform regulation is going to affect us all. With…
After reading Alison’s excellent blog entry regarding the efficacy of self-exams at detecting breast cancer, I’ve been thinking more about women’s choices regarding both prevention, as well as treatment, for breast cancer. I think Christina Applegate’s decision to have a mastectomy…
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Research has shown that portion control may be the most effective form of dieting when you take into account longevity and sustained weight loss and management. The reason, according to Dr. Everett Logue et al. in Obesity ( may be…
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News related to obesity has recently been splattered all over the news, even more than usual in my opinion. The latest headline is that obese or overweight patients had significantly less brain matter than those whose weights were considered normal. …
Photo: Lamis Eli, Sarah Kiesewetter
A study was recently published online in the journal Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association, showing that optimistic women are less likely to suffer from, or die of, heart disease. The study is actually really…
Currently 4% of women enrolled in the Illinois Womens Health Registry suffer from this skin condition that causes itchy or sore red patches of skin with silvery scales.
Psoriasis occurs when the normal life cycle of skin cells is accelerated by the…
Have you noticed the Institute for Women’s Health Research logo?
Our logo features two “dancing” X-chromosomes shaded in spring green – representing fresh approaches to conducting research, and purple to show our commitment to creating interdisciplinary research teams in search of breakthrough sex-…
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CNN has posted a very interesting article about blind women in Germany who are being trained to perform breast examinations. The program, called “Discovering Hands,” is based on the theory that the blind have a keener, more sensitive sense of…
That scary title brought to you by a new study that was performed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a division of the World Health Organization, which shows that people who begin using tanning beds regularly before age…
OSA students learning laparoscopic techniques
A priority of the Institute for Women’s Health Research is to develop and deliver educational experiences focused on women’s health for students and professionals at all levels of training and practice. IWHR has created an innovative educational…
This Post written by Victor O’Halloran
Last night was the world premiere of OSA: Sisters In Science, a documentary detailing the Oncofertility Saturday Academy. This documentary told the story of what happens when young women from a small south side Chicago high…
Sharon Green, Dr. Marie Savard, Susan Scanlan, Sarah Bristol-Gould, and Michelle Desjardins at the luncheon
Yesterday, the Institute for Women’s Health Research co-hosted a luncheon with the Chicago Foundation for Women and the National Council of Women’s Organizations featuring the Pearl of…
This recent article from the BBC discusses how the practice of stranger kidney donations has been increasing in the United Kingdom since it was made legal in 2006. Just to be clear, this refers to kidney donations while the donor is…
Yes, I’m tooting our own horn – but only because it’s pretty darn exciting! The Institute’s very own director Dr. Teresa Woodruff (a.k.a. my esteemed advisor) and members of our lab have been in the news for a research article that…
While browsing through Facebook status updates earlier today, I noticed that two friends independently posted a link to this op-ed on the New York Times website, written by blogger Nicholas D. Kristof. Mr. Kristof posted his thoughts on something that has…
It might seem kind of obvious, but the real first question about women’s health is, “Who do we categorize as a woman?” Right off the bat, we’d like to state a strong objective to be welcoming and inclusive to all women,…
Since we’ll be pretty regular fixtures around here for a while, we’d like to introduce ourselves, as well. We’re both fourth year graduate students, which means (if all goes according to plan) we’ll be “Dr. So and So” some time in…
Our women’s health blog is alive! We thought it might be nice to introduce the people behind the blog. Of course, we plan to identify several guest authors from among the many experts at Northwestern University and Northwestern Memorial Hospital, but…
Welcome to the Institute for Women’s Health Research Blog!
Established in November of 2007, the Institute for Women’s Health Research was created at Northwestern University to help accelerate basic science and clinical research that will advance our knowledge of women’s health. …