Keeping the Women we Love Healthy

The Doris A. Howell Foundation  for Women’s Health Research is committed  to keeping the women we love healthy,  advancing women’s health through  research and educating women to be catalysts  for improving family  health in the community. The organization does so by  funding scholarships to scientists  researching issues  affecting women’s   health; providing a forum for medical  experts, scientists,  doctors, researchers,  and authors to convey the timely information  on topics relevant to women’s health and  the health. of their families through its  Lecture and Evening Series,  and by funding research initiatives that  will create women’s  health awareness  and advocacy in the community.  Read the yearly review by clicking on the image.  

Sherrie Gould on current fundraising efforts for Stem Cell Research.  Part one of the Howell Foundation's Panel on Parkinson's Disease presented the latest research being conducted by  Jeanne F. Loring, Ph.D., Research Professor at Scripps Research Institute.   NIH funding for this kind of research has dropped by 34%.  A research program such as the one Dr. Loring is conducting has only a 1 in 10 chance of being funded by NIH.    So funding additional lines of research requires more creativity each day. Funds are currently and concurrently -- and very creatively-- being raised under the leadership of Sherrie Gould, a nurse practitioner in the Scripps Clinic Division of Neurology’s Movement Disorder Clinic and a founding member of the Parkinson’s Association’s Summit4Stem Cell (S4SC) Fundraising Group.   An active partner with Scripps, the Parkinson’s Association provides the most relevant news and resources on advances in Parkinson’s....

Jeanne F. Loring, Ph.D., Research Professor, Scripps Research Institute The Doris A. Howell Foundation hosted a panel of Parkinson’s disease specialists who presented the advances in research and the challenges that still lie ahead in the search for a cure for this terrible disease.    The panel presented and discussed topics related to the research advancements currently being conducted, the efforts of the Parkinson’s Disease Association to continue funding Parkinson’s Disease research, testimony from a Parkinson’s patient, the latest in treatment, and a caregiver’s perspective on the challenges of providing care for a Parkinson’s Disease patient.  To understand the advancements made to treat patients with Parkinson’s, it is important to understand what happens in our brain that causes this degenerative disease.   We all have nerve cells that release dopamine, responsible for sending signals to the part of our brain that tells our bodies how and wh...

This is Pattie’s favorite quote-- words given by Susan K. Weber that she lives by.   But although her work comes from her heart, it is far from being brief.   A San Diego Native, Pattie Welborn attended SDSU to pursue a career in Psychology and Education and transferred to UCLA, where she eventually got her Master’s degree in Psychology.  She has been involved in the San Diego community ever since she was a teenager.   She gets her love of Philanthropy from her mother, who pioneered several community programs as staff member at the WYCA. Pattie met Dr. Howell as neighbors.  She was immediately drawn to Dr. Howell’s idea of promoting women’s health.  Dr. Howell always stressed the importance of women being their own health advocates; anywhere from researching information on women’s - health related issues, to keeping their own medical records.    For years research addressing women hadn't included female subjects in the process, not...

Brad Benter is a third-generation San Diegan.  He graduated from Torrey Pines High School and remembers being brought to the river beds in Carmel Valley for a science class right were the Shell  gas station now stands, two blocks from where I sat down to chat with him.   He had always been interested in the Hospitality industry and started pursuing it at age 14.  By 19, he was a restaurant manager; among the restaurants he managed: the Fish Market and the Crab Catcher Chain.  He attended San Diego State, and hard work and perseverance landed him in Hawaii at the famous Black Orchid.   And let’s not forget the surfing! He started to surf at 11 at the YMCA in Imperial Beach.   “Surfing teaches you a lot about life.  It’s about patience --waiting and being in the right place for THAT perfect wave.  It’s about balance and staying ON the board.  Both lessons have remained my entire life.”   During his life in the Hospital...