Keeping the Women we Love Healthy

What a year 2018 has been, and 2019 is just around the corner! The Board of Directors at the Howell Foundation is working on lining up great speakers, is reviewing amazing research topics from our scholars and continues to see the results of our CEI seed resarch grants!  We couldn't have done it without you!  Your continuous support was fundamental in making a difference in women's health research: 16 undergraduate research scholarships Two graduate nursing research scholarships Four educational luncheons Our evening “Health and Happiness” event Our pilot grant for assisting with the reproductive health of the East African women refugees in San Diego county and  Our newest initiative, assisting with enrollment of women research subjects in clinical trials (the first being the WISDOM Trial addressing diagnosis in breast cancer) With your support,  you have advanced research regionally at UCSD School of Medicine, USD Hahn School of nursing, SDSU, CSUSM and

Dr. Sheila Moody at Howell Luncheon in November  In our continued efforts to better the health of women, in 2012, the Howell Foundation made a commitment to fund research partnerships between academic and community-based organizations. The goal of our Community Engagement Initiative (CEI) is to support these partnerships; working collaboratively to develop and evaluate programs designed to improve women’s health. Our priority is to ensure the development of evidenced-informed projects that address relevant issues affecting women’s health within the greater San Diego community, with an emphasis on underserved women. The 2018 Community Engagement Initiative recipient is Dr. Sheila Mody, MD MPH.  She is Director, Fellowship in Family Planning; Director, Division of Family Planning at the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences of University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Her project will focus on anayzing how culture influences family planning health, as

It is with great sadness that we mourn the passing of a remarkable woman who inspired us all.  She truly believed that the way to fight bias against female in research was through education.  In doing so, she touched the life of many.    Devoted to improving the lives of others, her pervasive humanitarian outreach to those in need and to education is legendary.   Known as the "Mother of Hospice" in our community, Doris A. Howell, M.D. was a graduate of McGill University.  A Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist, and an internationally renowned leader in pediatrics and hospice care, she was a faculty member at Harvard and Duke Schools of Medicine, Chair of the Dept. of Pediatrics at the Medical College of Pennsylvania, and on the faculty of UCSD Medical School where she chaired the Dept. of Community and Family Medicine. Serving on the San Diego Hospice Board of Directors since its inception, she was a driving force for San Diego Hospice, now a model of care that is

Because women's health starts with research!  “It’s important for women to have confidence in good scientific research” – WisdomStudy.org Women make a series of decisions based on the information provided from their screening.  Wouldn't you want to know what the best option is? If you haven't done so already, learn more about the impact this important research will have on women in our community. In support of the WISDOM ( W omen I nformed to S creen D epending O n M easures of risk) trial, The Doris A. Howell Foundation celebrated its Health and Happiness Series in June with the presentation “Improving Benefits and Reducing Harms from Breast Cancer Screening: The WISDOM Trial,” hosting three renowned specialists in the areas of oncology, epidemiology and genetic testing.  Led by UC San Diego Health, UC Davis Health, UCSF, UCLA Health, UC Irvine, and Sanford Health, the mammography screening research trial is searching to determine which strategy produces t

Even though Alzheimer’s Disease is the most common form of dementia, it is also a complication of Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and a further cause is Lewy Body dementia .   Consider this: Seventy percent of dementia cases are due to Alzheimer’s disease It is estimated that one in six women over the age of 55 will develop dementia, compared to one in ten men.   As much as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease research results sound promising, we are cautiously optimistic about the findings that currently dictate the way it is diagnosed and treated.  To date, we have research results that are encouraging: In 2016, researchers in the US found a direct correlation between dementia and heart health.  In a study published by the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that addressing cardiovascular disease lowered the risk of dementia. (1), (2)  A collaboration between scientists in the US and Australia regarding dementia-related diseases showed

Even though the rate of ovarian cancer diagnosis has been steadily declining for the past 20 years, we shouldn’t let our guards down.  Awareness is a key factor that will contribute to our health. Ovarian cancer is known as the “silent killer” due to lack of symptoms.   The symptoms are so common that they are often misdiagnosed as other conditions. “Ovarian Cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in the United States because the majority of women are diagnosed at a late stage after cancer has metastasized.  Five-year overall survival is dismal at 45%; however, if the cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, survival rates greatly improve to over 92%”, comments Peg Ford, ovarian cancer survivor and President/Co-Founder of the Ovarian Cancer Alliance of San Diego. Early detection saves lives; however, early screening tests for ovarian cancer are not yet fully developed. You can ask your gynecologist to order imaging tests, particularly if there are

It is always a pleasure and an honor to work with wonderful women.  Dr. Skaidrite Krisans, or Skai-- as we called her-- always had a great sense of humor. Her energy and love for life was just contagious. "Skai was a fitness buff and was always willing to try the next new workout," comments Kay Pierce, Treasurer of the Foundation.  "For a while she did the Perfect Workout-- moving very slowly while lifting weights.  I would meet her at her gym and join her in this work out… years ago…" She continues to talk about Skai. "She loved her trips to Italy and improving her working knowledge of the Italian language.  She took pride in the fact that after the first two trips she was treated like a local in Italy.  In other words, she would go in and buy an espresso and get the locals price and her husband would go in later in the day while she was in her Italian language school and he would get the 'tourista' price. It took them some time to figure out tha

Pictured above, from left to right: Dr. Patricia Roth, Professor and Director of the Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing Program;  Dr. Jane Georges, Dean and Professor; Ph.D candidate Michelle Fleishman; Cheryl Wilson, RN; Ph.D Candidate Michelle Lee and Dr. Mary Barger.  The doctor diagnoses and treats an illness.  Yet, the bottom line is that nurses are the ones who actually take care of our loved ones.  This year, the Cheryl Wilson Scholarships were awarded to Ph.D Candidates Ellen Fleishman and Michelle Lee. The Cheryl A. Wilson Scholarship was established 6 years ago to honor her for all her work at the Doris Howell Foundation.  A nurse herself, Chery is the Chief Executive Officer of St. Paul's Senior Homes & Services in San Diego.  Proposals for the scholarphips are assessed for their impact on women’s health, research design, scholar qualifications and feasibility of accomplishing study goals.  Each student must have a qualified research mentor to direct and gu

How does one become addicted? Does addiction start with a bad habit? What happens in our brain when we suffer from addiction? What is the correlation between the science, the physiology and the psychology of addiction?  Are there any differences between men and women when discussing addiction? We hope you will join us on August 17th at the upcoming Howell Foundation Health Lecture Luncheon with guest speaker Dr. Carolyn Coker Ross  "Addiction: It's not just drugs and alcohol". There are many forms of addiction.  One can be addicted to food, to tobacco, to relationships, to video games, to cell phones. But the one element that accompanies addiction is the stigma associated with it: the perception that it is a weakness.  Understanding the science behind addiction becomes a key issue on being able to set an action plan to treat the behavior. According to Healthline.com , "Addictive substances and behaviors can create a pleasurable “high” that’s physical and psy

Pictured from Left to right: Dr. Lisa Madlensky, Dr. Barbara Parker & Dr. Andrea LaCroix; key note speakers  There isn’t actually a punch line here.  Early detection and accurate treatment for breast cancer is certainly more a relief than a joking matter.  We did, however, get together to learn about the latest advances in breast cancer screening, prevention and treatment. Because women's health starts with research!  In support of the WISDOM ( W omen  I nformed to  S creen  D epending  O n  M easures of risk) trial, The Doris A. Howell Foundation celebrated its Health and Happiness Series in June with the presentation “Improving Benefits and Reducing Harms from Breast Cancer Screening: The WISDOM Trial,” hosting three renowned specialists in the areas of oncology, epidemiology and genetic testing.  The objective was to inform the San Diego community about the latest research being conducted regarding breast cancer screening guidelines, their efficacy, and the step