Keeping the Women we Love Healthy

To those who have crossed the path to making sure that women's health research is at the forefront of our efforts, thank you Howell Scholars (current and past), mentors, CEI recipients, speakers and Board Members!  Healthy women -- and men-- ensure family health. However, a "one-size-fits-all" approach does not apply to medicine when diagnosing and treating women.  Add the fact that women are still underrepresented in clinical trials --which can lead to misdiagnosis and treatment in women's health-- and you have THE recipe for illness disaster! Personalized medicine needs to consider gender and sex, which ultimately starts with research at its most basic: the cellular level.  By understanding the physiological, psychological and social differences between men and women: Researchers can keep discovering new cures for disease based on the differences between men and women. Doctors can establish the necessary guidelines to treat illness specific to gende...

Time and time again we have been told that going back to the basics of nutrition IS the healthiest action to take when dealing with health issues. The fact is -- and all of our speakers have at some point concluded -- that poor nutrition leads to poor health:  cancer, diabetes and heart health leading the list.  According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, unhealthy eating and inactivity account for almost half a million deaths per year (1) Even though there are general guidelines on nutritional values, there are marked differences between the effects on nutrition between men and women.  There are many variables that affect our nutrition-- our health, our age, what we do for a living and even our own bodies – and recommendations on healthy eating and the amount of nutrients vary accordingly. Eating healthy is more about discipline; learning to eat healthy food and teaching our family the value of nutrition.   But the one question worth a...

Jessica Zhang is a newly minted MD serving on our Board of Directors. It is amazing how many things she is able to do for the Howell Foundation, all while pursuing her residency in Emergency Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital/UCSF. The philosophy of life of this young doctor is, quite frankly, contagious.  Taking a preventive approach on the road to personalized medicine is, perhaps, the most important factor in achieving health.  But that is just my opinion!  Read the wise words of Dr. Zhang, who no doubt will become one of THE best doctors! "My hope is that my future career is filled with sudden and unpredictable accidents – this sounds terrible, but hear me out. There are two ways to approach medicine.  The first is to react to a problem that already exists; the second is to prevent the problem from occurring. Our health care system approaches health from the first perspective. With increasingly rare exception, health is only addressed after you a...

Dr. Howell (front center) and Dr. Maloy with the 2017 Howell-CSUPERB Scholarship recipients.  Double the Impact! CSUPERB (California State University Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology) awards a new research grant for each full scholarship the Howell Foundation awards to a CSU undergraduate. A strict protocol is followed in the choice of the students, including review of the students' scholarship applications, and quality of supervision during their research work. This supervision has become known as the "Mentor Program." It is the lifeline to the program's success. Each student must have a qualified mentor to direct and guide them. The research subjects range from the most basic of life sciences such as cell biology to creating vaccines and testing altered immune reactions. Often the results of the student's research are presented at professional conferences or published in peer-reviewed journals, contributing to the community and the f...

March is here.  'Spring cleaning' is in the air.  So, how are we doing on the 'cleaning-out-our- ( fill in the blank )' resolution? The Howell Foundation invited Dr. Saxena to speak to us about clutter vs. hoarding last January.  More than a behavior pattern, hoarding is now diagnosed as a stand alone disorder --vs. being diagnosed as a sub category of OCD.  You can read more about his research here . The many faces of clutter vs. hoarding. To better emphasize that hoarding is not a 'lazy' attitude, Dr. Saxeena explained that what seems normal for us, discarding items of little or no relevant value, is difficult for many.  It is estimated that between 12 and 19 million individuals suffer from a hoarding behavior in the US. The reason why Americans hoard varies; some have a percieved notion of needing the items (trying to fix an item for a later use or to sell it), others save an item because it may be used some day, and yet others save it beca...

Celebrating 70 years of educating, empowering and enabling women in our community socially and economically Second Bucket List Bash to focus on women in the military and their transition into civilian life If you haven’t heard about Soroptimist International of La Jolla, you are missing out on the wonderful work they do to educate, empower and enable women in our community.  We know that for a fact! After all, the organization was a key component in creating the Doris A. Howell Foundation for Women’s Health Research.  We have been partners now for almost 25 years! "The group of women that belongs to Soroptimist International of La Jolla is small in number but immense in dedication and imprint on the lives of women. Twenty two years ago SILJ was instrumental in founding the Doris A. Howell Foundation for Women's Health Research and their organization has been our greatest ally in the years that followed. We are proud to be one of the recipients of their generosity...