DEC 14 - 15 2020

ORWH's 30th Anniversary Virtual Meeting Series: Advancing the Health of Women Through Science

ORWH is hosting three virtual meetings to celebrate 30 years of women’s health and sex and gender research within and beyond the NIH scientific community.

BIRCWH

Celebrating its 20th year, BIRCWH is a mentored career-development program connecting junior faculty—known as BIRCWH Scholars—to senior faculty with shared interests in women’s health and sex differences research. The annual meeting brings BIRCWH Scholars and faculty together to share research and experiences. The 4th Ruth L. Kirschstein Memorial Lectureship will focus on the importance of and improvements made in mentoring young investigators. The plenary session will feature presentations on research findings by leading BIRCWH Scholars. A special “Innovation Talk” to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the BIRCWH program will close the event.

30th Anniversary Scientific Symposium

This symposium, titled “Advancing the Health of Women Through Science,” will feature opening remarks by NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins, a keynote address on women’s mental health across the life course, and a panel of directors from several NIH Institutes and Centers discussing their perspectives on women’s health. Additional presentations will discuss high-priority women’s health topics, such as applying the principle of studying sex as a biological variable across scientific disciplines.

SCORE

The Specialized Centers of Research Excellence on Sex Differences, or SCORE, program is the only NIH cooperative agreement program supporting disease-agnostic research on sex differences. Each center serves as a national resource for translational research to identify the role of biological sex differences in the health of women. At this year’s SCORE Annual Meeting, Dr. Jocalyn Clark, Executive Editor of The Lancet, will present the keynote address: “Sex Differences Research and the Health of Women: An Editor’s Perspective.”

Speakers

John M. Balbus, M.D., M.P.H.

Senior Advisor for Public Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
BIOGRAPHY
Diana W. Bianchi, M.D.

Director, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
BIOGRAPHY
Janine Austin Clayton, M.D.

Associate Director for Research on Women's Health, National Institute of Health (NIH) and Director, NIH Office of Research on Women's Health
BIOGRAPHY
Francis S Collins, M.D., Ph.D.

Director of the National Institutes of Health
BIOGRAPHY
Gwen W. Collman, Ph.D.

Acting Deputy Director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
BIOGRAPHY
Karen Freund, M.D., M.P.H.

Sara Murray Jordan Professor of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine Vice Chair, Department of Medicine, Tufts Medical Center
BIOGRAPHY
Monica Webb Hooper, Ph.D.

Deputy Director, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)
BIOGRAPHY
Shaheen Lakhan, M.D., Ph.D., M.Ed., M.S., FAAN

Executive Director, Global Neuroscience Initiative Foundation Adjunct Professor of Neuroscience, Virginia Tech University
BIOGRAPHY
Helene Langevin, M.D.

Director, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
BIOGRAPHY
Pauline M Maki, Ph.D.

Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Obstetrics & Gynecology Director, Women's Mental Health Research Program, University of Illinois at Chicago
BIOGRAPHY
Virginia M. Miller, MBA, PhD

Professor Emeritus, Surgery and Physiology, Mayo Clinic
BIOGRAPHY
Judith Regensteiner, Ph.D

Director, Center for Women's Health Research Director, Divisions of General Internal Medicine and Cardiology
BIOGRAPHY
Norman E. Sharpless, M.D

Director, National Cancer Institute (NCI)
BIOGRAPHY
Kedir Turi, Ph.D.

Professor of Medicine, Research Assistant, Vanderbilt University Medical Center ORWH BIRCWH Scholar
BIOGRAPHY
Nora D. Volkow, M.D.

Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
BIOGRAPHY
Mary Woolley, M.A.

President, Research!America Member, National Academy of Medicine Member, National Academies Board on Life Sciences and Board on Higher Education and Workforce
BIOGRAPHY

Agenda Share

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DEC 15, 2020 5:15 PM EST

Closing Remarks and Adjourn

Janine Austin Clayton, M.D.

Associate Director for Research on Women's Health, National Institute of Health (NIH) and Director, NIH Office of Research on Women's Health
BIOGRAPHY
DEC 15, 2020 4:30 PM EST

Afternoon Keynote Address: Meeting the Moment

Mary Woolley, M.A.

President, Research!America Member, National Academy of Medicine Member, National Academies Board on Life Sciences and Board on Higher Education and Workforce
BIOGRAPHY

This presentation will explore the role of advocacy in empowering women’s health research. Research!America President and CEO Mary Woolley will touch briefly on the historical role of advocacy in advancing women’s health research, as leaders ‘met the moment.’ She will describe the challenges of today and comment on the urgency of meeting the moment now. Given mixed public attitudes toward public science and scientists today, advocates - including scientists - must step up if we are to fully realize the promise of research to deliver on health for all.

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DEC 15, 2020 2:30 PM EST

Perspectives from NIH Institute Directors

Janine Austin Clayton, M.D.
Associate Director for Research on Women's Health, Nati...

Helene Langevin, M.D.
Director, National Center for Complementary and Integra...

Norman E. Sharpless, M.D
Director, National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Diana W. Bianchi, M.D.
Director, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of...

Nora D. Volkow, M.D.
Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Gwen W. Collman, Ph.D.
Acting Deputy Director, National Institute of Environme...

Monica Webb Hooper, Ph.D.
Deputy Director, National Institute on Minority Health...
DEC 15, 2020 1:15 PM EST

Panel Topic: Sex as a Biological Variable (SABV)
Sex as a Biological Variable from Research to Clinical Practice

Virginia M. Miller, PhD, MBA

Sex as a biological variable is fundamental to individualized medicine. The interactions of biological sex with sex hormones and environmental and psychosocial factors that influence biology contribute to sex differences in health and disease. Thus, it is essential that basic and clinical research attends to biological sex in the design of studies, data collection, reporting and interpretation of results. New information regarding mechanisms of sex differences in health and disease must be embedded into all aspects of medical training and curriculum in order to improve clinical outcomes. The scientific and medical communities must remain vigilant in order to assure that research into mechanisms of sex differences continues, so that the next generation of researchers and care providers are knowledgeable of these differences and implement the findings to improve the health of the nation.

Sample questions:

The NIH initiatives have contributed to bringing sex as a biological variable to the forefront of research. What do you see as the next steps? (answer: discussion of accountability)

Is there a place for public and private partnerships to advance the science of sex differences in health and disease?

You mentioned that one of the significant challenges going forward is the education of the educators. What are some concrete steps that can be taken to address this challenge?

Mentoring to Address Sex as a Biological Variable

Karen Freund, MD, MPH

Mentorship is critical to ensure that all early stage investigators understand and adopt scientifically sound methodologies to address SABV in their research. I will explore three avenues of mentorship to achieve greater adoption of SABV through mentorship.

Group seminars and peer mentorship programs, including “K clubs” and similar local programs can effectively demonstrate to all investigators the need and value for SABV in research, and provide examples of its success adoption and benefits to scientific outcomes.

Individual mentorship can help mentees with the specifics on their study aims, and methodology.

Biostatistical mentors can assist in study methodologies for both exploratory and confirmatory analyses, and power calculations.

Advancing SABV through mentorship requires mentor training to ensure that our mentor workforce is aware and has the skills to mentor and guide the research of their mentees to include SABV in their study designs and analyses.

Scholar Perspective on Adopting SABV in Research

Kedir Turi, PhD

Dr. Turi’s presentation will focus on how investigators can adopt and incorporate sex as a biological variable (SABV) in their research.

He will talk about how the BIRCWH program mentorship and scholar’s community helped him to adopt and incorporate SABV in his mentored research grant application.

He will explore how some research topics lend themselves to sex differences and will use the example of sex differences in asthma to illustrate this.

He will also use the specific case of sex differences in immune response to infection during childhood and its implication for asthma development to illustrate how sex differences can be incorporated using high dimensional data.
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Judith Regensteiner, Ph.D
Director, Center for Women's Health Research Director,...

Virginia M. Miller, MBA, PhD
Professor Emeritus, Surgery and Physiology, Mayo Clinic

Karen Freund, M.D., M.P.H.
Sara Murray Jordan Professor of Medicine, Tufts Univers...

Kedir Turi, Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine, Research Assistant, Vanderbilt U...
DEC 15, 2020 12:00 PM EST

Pain and its Management in Women

Shaheen Lakhan, M.D., Ph.D., M.Ed., M.S., FAAN

Executive Director, Global Neuroscience Initiative Foundation Adjunct Professor of Neuroscience, Virginia Tech University
BIOGRAPHY

It is commonly understood that men and women differ in their pain experience. In this talk, we examine sex-bias in pain biology, physiology, perception, behavior, coping, chronification, and management. We also explore systemic racism and health inequity in pain management practices, and their impact on addressing women’s health.

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DEC 15, 2020 11:30 AM EST

How Women's Environments Affect their Health

John M. Balbus, M.D., M.P.H.

Senior Advisor for Public Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
BIOGRAPHY
DEC 15, 2020 10:30 AM EST

Morning Keynote Address: Women's Mental Health Across the Life Course

Pauline M Maki, Ph.D.

Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Obstetrics & Gynecology Director, Women's Mental Health Research Program, University of Illinois at Chicago
BIOGRAPHY

The lifetime prevalence of mental health disorders differs by sex, with a higher prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders in females and a higher prevalence of impulse control disorders and substance use disorders in males. These sex differences emerge at puberty and are heightened in the perinatal and perimenopausal periods, underscoring the important role of hormonal factors in women’s mental health. NIH-supported research studies have greatly enhanced our understanding of the biological factors that contribute to mental health disorders in women across the lifespan. Such work led to the recent development and FDA approval of brexanolone, a novel allopregnanolone formulation that rapidly improves postpartum depression. This recent success in drug development underscores the clinical significance of sex difference research. Focusing on biology is important but insufficient in addressing mental health concerns in women, as environmental exposures also play a key role in their development and life course. One in four females are sexually abused as children, and females experience a higher cumulative exposure to adverse childhood events. Rates of mental health disorders are increasing more in college-aged women than men. Rates of perinatal mental health disorders are also increasing while rates of diagnosis and treatment remain low, particularly for women of color. Advances in perinatal mental health screening and treatment, such as computerized adaptive testing and on-line cognitive behavioral therapy, hold promise in addressing some of those health disparities. Gender differences in caregiving for children can contribute to disproportionate mental health burden in women, a difference that is particularly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. In adulthood, domestic abuse, sexual harassment and discrimination are key determinants of mental and physical health in women. At midlife, the menopause transition is window of vulnerability for the exacerbation of many mental disorders in women. Finally, gender differences in caregiving for spouses or father’s with Alzheimer’s disease and other chronic diseases, adds to the burden of mental health disorders in older women. The NIH now expects that sex as a biological variable will be factored into research designs, analyses, and reporting in vertebrate animal and human studies. That effort, as well as continued targeted funding for sex- and gender-based research, are key to addressing the biological and environmental risk factors for mental health disorders that women face across the lifespan.

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DEC 15, 2020 10:20 AM EST

ORWH Video Tribute
DEC 15, 2020 10:00 AM EST

Remarks by Dr. Collins

Francis S Collins, M.D., Ph.D.

Director of the National Institutes of Health
BIOGRAPHY
DEC 15, 2020 9:30 AM EST

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Janine Austin Clayton, M.D.

Associate Director for Research on Women's Health, National Institute of Health (NIH) and Director, NIH Office of Research on Women's Health
BIOGRAPHY

Agenda - BIRCWH

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020

Opening Session

Run Time: 10:00am-11:00am EST/7:00am-8:00am PST

Welcome from ORWH

Presentation Time: 10:00am-10:15am EST/7:00am-7:15am PST

Janine Austin Clayton, M.D.

Associate Director for Research on Women’s Health, NIH

Director, NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH)

Lisa Begg, Dr.P.H., RN

Senior Research Program Officer, ORWH

Program Officer, BIRCWH program

Introduction of Keynote Speaker

Janine Austin Clayton, M.D.

Presentation Time: 10:15am-10:20am EST/7:15am-7:20am PST

Keynote Address: Ruth L. Kirschstein Memorial Lectureship

Patricia E. Molina, MD, PhD.
Richard Ashman Professor and Head Department of Physiology, and Director, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Center of Excellence, School of Medicine, Louisiana State University, New Orleans, LA.

Presentation Time: 10:20am-11:00am EST/7:20am-8:00am PST

Virtual Podium Session for Top 3 BIRCWH Scholars’ Abstracts

Run Time: 11:00am-12:00pm EST/8:00am-9:00am PST

Introduction to Virtual Podium Sessions

Lisa Begg, Dr.P.H., RN

Sex Differences in the Prevalence of Ideal Cardiovascular Health among US Adults

Presenting Author: Joshua D. Bundy, Ph.D., MPH

Program PI: M. “Tonette” Krousel-Wood, M.D., Tulane University BIRCWH program

Other Contributors: Robert C. Hendel, M. “Tonette” Krousel-Wood, M.D., Paul K. Whelton, Jiang He

Presentation Time: 11:00am-11:15am EST/8:00am-8:15am PST

Oxytocin Administration in Low-risk Labor and Birth: Duration of Infusion and Likelihood of Postpartum Hemorrhage

Presenting Author: Elise N. Erickson, Ph.D., C.N.M.

Program PI: Jeanne-Marie Guise, M.D., M.P.H., Oregon Health & Science University BIRCWH program

Other Contributors: Nicole S. Carlson

Presentation Time: 11:15am-11:30am EST/8:15am-8:30am PST

Recurrent Episodic Cortical Spreading Depressions Produce Trigeminal Mechanical Allodynia and Anxiety-Related Behaviors

Presenting Author: Andrea Harriott, M.D., Ph.D

Program PI: Jill M. Goldstein, Ph.D., Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School BIRCWH program

Other Contributors: David Y. Chung, Aylin Uner, Andreia Morais, Tsubasa Takizawa, Tao Qin, Cenk Ayata

Presentation Time: 11:30am-11:45am EST/8:30am-8:45am PST

Virtual Q&A for the 3 Scholars : 11:45 am-12:00 pm EST/ 8:45 am - 9:00 am PST

Legacy of Leadership Lecture

Run Time: 12:15pm-1:00pm EST/9:15am-10:00am PST

Introduction to Legacy of Leadership

Xenia Tigno, Ph.D., M.S. (Epi)

Associate Director for Careers, ORWH

20th Anniversary BIRCWH Legacy of Leadership Lecture

Claire E. Sterk, Ph.D. President Emerita and Charles Howard Candler Professor of Public Health Emory University

Presentation Time: 12:15pm-12:50pm EST/9:15am-9:50am PST

Closing Plenary Comments

Time: 12:50pm–1:00pm EST/9:50am-10:00am PST

Lunch Break

Time: 1:00pm–1:30pm EST/10:00am-10:30am PST

Virtual BIRCWH Poster Sessions

Time: 1:30pm–5:00pm EST/10:35am-2:00pm PST

Formal Meeting Adjourned

Time: 5:00pm EST/2:00pm PST

Informal Virtual Networking Session

Time: 5:00pm-6:00pm EST/2:00pm-3:00pm PST

Agenda - ORWH

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020

Morning Session

Run Time: 9:30–10:30am EST/6:30–7:30am PST

Welcome, Opening Remarks, and Dr. Collins’ Introduction

Janine Clayton, M.D.

Associate Director for Research on Women’s Health, NIH

Director, NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH)

Presentation Time: 9:30–10:00am EST/6:30–7:00am PST

Remarks by Dr. Collins

Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D.

Director, NIH

Presentation Time: 10:00-10:20am EST/7:00-7:20am PST

ORWH Video Tribute

Time: 10:20am–10:30am EST/7:20am-7:30am PST

Morning Keynote Address

Run Time: 10:30–11:20am EST/7:30–8:20am PST

Topic: Women’s Mental Health Across the Life Course

Pauline M. Maki, Ph.D.

Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Obstetrics & Gynecology

Director, Women’s Mental Health Research Program, University of Illinois at Chicago

Presentation Time: 10:30-11:00am EST/7:30am-8:00am PST

Q&A

Time: 11:00-11:20am EST/8:00am-8:20am PST

Break

Time: 11:20am–11:30am EST/8:20am-8:30am PST

Presentations

Run Time: 11:30am–12:35am EST/8:30am-9:35am PST

Topic: How Women's Enviornments Affect Their Health

John Balbus, M.D., M.P.H.

Senior Advisor for Public Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)

Director, NIEHS–World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health Sciences

Presentation Time: 11:30am–12:00pm EST/8:30am-9:00am PST

Topic: Pain and its Management in Women

Shaheen Lakhan, M.D., Ph.D., M.Ed., M.S., FAAN

Adjunct Professor of Neuroscience, Virginia Tech University

Executive Director, Global Neuroscience Initiative Foundation

Chief of Pain Management, Carilion Clinic

Presentation Time: 12:00pm–12:30pm EST/9:00am-9:30am PST

Q&A

Time: 12:30pm-12:45pm EST/9:30am-9:45am PST

Lunch

Time: 12:45pm-1:15pm EST/9:45am-10:15am PST

Afternoon Session

Run Time: 1:15pm-2:30pm EST/10:15am-11:30am PST

Opening of Afternoon Session

Lisa Begg, Dr.P.H., RN

Senior Research Program Officer, ORWH

Time: 1:15pm-1:20pm EST/10:15am-10:20am PST

Panel Topic: Sex as a Biological Variable (SABV)

Presentation Time: 1:20pm-2:00pm EST/10:20am-11:00am PST

Panel Moderator

Judith Regensteiner, Ph.D.

Professor of Medicine

Judith and Joseph Wagner Endowed Chair in Women’s Health

Director, Center for Women’s Health Research Director, Divisions of General Internal Medicine and Cardiology

University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Panelists

Sex as a Biological Variable from Research to Clinical Practice

Virginia M. Miller, Ph.D., M.B.A.

Professor, Departments of Surgery and Physiology

Mayo Clinic

Mentoring to Address Sex as a Biological Variable

Karen Freund, M.D., M.P.H.

Sara Murray Jordan Professor of Medicine

Tufts University School of Medicine

Vice Chair of Medicine, Tufts Medical Center
American Cancer Society - Harry and Elsa Jiler Clinical Research Professor

Scholar Perspective on Adopting SABV in Research

Kedir Turi, PhD

Research Assistant Professor of Medicine Vanderbilt University Medical Center

ORWH BIRCWH Scholar

Q&A

Time: 2:00pm-2:30pm EST/11:00am-11:30am PST

Perspectives from NIH Institute Directors

Run Time: 2:30pm-4:30pm EST/11:30am-2:30pm PST

Introduction—Janine Clayton, M.D., ORWH Director

NIH Institute Directors

Diana Bianchi, M.D. (NICHD Director)

Gwen Collman, Ph.D. (NIEHS Acting Deputy Director)

Helene Langevin, M.D. (NCCIH Director)

Monica Webb Hooper, Ph.D. (NIMHD Deputy Director)

Norman Sharpless, M.D. (NCI Director)

Nora Volkow, M.D. (NIDA Director)

Presentation Time: 2:30pm-4:00pm EST/11:30am-1:00pm PST

Q&A

Time: 4:00-4:30pm EST/1:00pm-1:30pm PST

Afternoon Keynote Address

Run Time: 4:30pm-5:30pm EST/1:30pm-2:30pm PST

Meeting the Moment

Mary Woolley, M.A.

President, Research America

Member, National Academy of Medicine

Member, National Academies Board on Life Sciences and Board on Higher Education and Workforce

Presentation Time: 4:30pm-5:00pm EST/1:30pm-2:00pm PST

Q&A

Time: 5:00pm-5:15pm EST/2:00pm-2:15 PST

Closing Remarks and Adjourn

Janine Clayton, M.D.

Associate Director for Research on Women’s Health, NIH

Director, NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH)

Presentation Time: 5:15pm-5:30pm EST/2:15pm-2:30pm PST

ORWH - Speakers Share

John M. Balbus, M.D., M.P.H.

Senior Advisor for Public Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)

BIOGRAPHY
Diana W. Bianchi, M.D.

Director, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

BIOGRAPHY
Janine Austin Clayton, M.D.

Associate Director for Research on Women's Health, National Institute of Health (NIH) and Director, NIH Office of Research on Women's Health

BIOGRAPHY
Francis S Collins, M.D., Ph.D.

Director of the National Institutes of Health

BIOGRAPHY
Gwen W. Collman, Ph.D.

Acting Deputy Director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)

BIOGRAPHY
Karen Freund, M.D., M.P.H.

Sara Murray Jordan Professor of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine Vice Chair, Department of Medicine, Tufts Medical Center

BIOGRAPHY
Monica Webb Hooper, Ph.D.

Deputy Director, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)

BIOGRAPHY
Shaheen Lakhan, M.D., Ph.D., M.Ed., M.S., FAAN

Executive Director, Global Neuroscience Initiative Foundation Adjunct Professor of Neuroscience, Virginia Tech University

BIOGRAPHY
Helene Langevin, M.D.

Director, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)

BIOGRAPHY
Pauline M Maki, Ph.D.

Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Obstetrics & Gynecology Director, Women's Mental Health Research Program, University of Illinois at Chicago

BIOGRAPHY
Virginia M. Miller, MBA, PhD

Professor Emeritus, Surgery and Physiology, Mayo Clinic

BIOGRAPHY
Judith Regensteiner, Ph.D

Director, Center for Women's Health Research Director, Divisions of General Internal Medicine and Cardiology

BIOGRAPHY
Norman E. Sharpless, M.D

Director, National Cancer Institute (NCI)

BIOGRAPHY
Kedir Turi, Ph.D.

Professor of Medicine, Research Assistant, Vanderbilt University Medical Center ORWH BIRCWH Scholar

BIOGRAPHY
Nora D. Volkow, M.D.

Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

BIOGRAPHY
Mary Woolley, M.A.

President, Research!America Member, National Academy of Medicine Member, National Academies Board on Life Sciences and Board on Higher Education and Workforce

BIOGRAPHY