Keeping the Women we Love Healthy

The Doris Howell Foundation held its first Luncheon Series with the lecture “ Understanding the genome 10,000 experiments at a time: applying genomic approaches to understand autoimmune disease in women" with Sonia Sharma, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Cell Biology, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology and Director of the Institute’s RNAi Facility. Although the title sounds intimidating,  the fact is autoimmune diseases affect women to a much greater extent than men (See Table). Currently in the US 12 million women and 4 million men are struggling with autoimmune disease; not to mention that research on autoimmune diseases in women has been scattered and unfocused, partly because of the fact that symptoms are often confused with other conditions. For reasons that are yet not fully understood, autoimmune diseases affect more women than men. Dr. Sharma pointed out that women have higher immune reactivity and higher numbers of certain immune cell popula...

It was 20 years ago when Soroptimist International of La Jolla helped establish the Doris A. Howell Foundation for Women’s Health Research to honor a remarkable woman who’s work denoted love, passion for women’s health and compassion. Today, after 20 years, the inspiration brought about by Dr. Howell has allowed the Foundation to award over 200 scholarships to aspiring researchers and doctors, to hold over 80 educational events and to fund 3 grants addressing the health of underserved women in our community. Please Join us in celebrating the next 20 years of Women’s Health Research at our Featured Luncheon:  “One World, One Health” With Stanley Maloy, Ph.D.  Professor Dean, College of Sciences Associate Director, Center for Microbial Sciences        San Diego State University                                           ...

Doctoral researchers  to focus on sleep disorders in pregnancy and breast feeding patterns  San Diego, CA - August, 2015 .   The Doris A. Howell Foundation announced the recipients of the Cheryl A. Wilson Scholarships to CDR Ryan Nations with the project entitled “Sleep disordered breathing and pregnancy: prevalence and outcomes at delivery”, mentored by Dr. Cynthia Connelly; and to Jodi O’Brien with the research project entitled “Examining breastfeeding patterns and nurse factors associated with in-hospital formula supplementation” sponsored by nursing faculty member, Dr. Mary Barger; both scholarship recipients are candidates for a doctoral degree at USD Hahn School of Nursing. CDR Ryan Nations and Dr. Doris Howell “There is an old joke that if you don't remember your anesthesia provider they must have done their job well. While there is a bit of truth and humor in that statement, it is my goal as a nurse anesthetist to disprove that joke. Every in...

There are many factors that cause Osteoporosis-- a poor diet, lack of exercise, smoking, alcohol, being over the age of 50, not getting enough vitamin D and Calcium being some of the causes.  Osteoporosis however affects women more than men due to two main causes: 1.- Women tend to be smaller than men, having smaller bone structures; and 2.- Estrogen production, which makes our bones stronger, diminishes in women going through menopause.   As a matter of fact, it is estimated that women will lose 20% of their bone mass 5 to 7 years after going through menopause.  Osteoporosis is a serious illness yet s imple and healthy habits can change our risks for this silent illness.  Take preventive measures and talk to your doctor bout the best ways to prevent it!                                                        ...