Keeping the Women we Love Healthy

Won't you join us?  It seems like the 2018 Howell Lecure Series is shaping up to present the role technology is playing for the treatment and cure of severe illnesses.  Just last  February, the Howell Foundation hosted Dr. De Maria, who spoke about the latest technological advances to address heart disease. Now, for our luncheon in May, we have the honor of hosting Benjamin Shepherd, Ph.D, Director of Therapeutics at Organovo, Inc.  His presentation "Advanced Tissue Therapies - Progress in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine” will address the latest and most innovative developments in using cultured human tissues and 3-D bioprinting for vital organ transplantation. Organ and tissue damage can go beyond the current available treatments.  The field of regenerative medicine offers new alternatives when discussing a cure for diseases related to genetic predisposition, congenital abnormalities or severe injuries. Why is the field of regenerative ...

It is often said that an individual without education is like a building without a foundation.  One of our first scholar's career path allows her to inspire in others the passion of scientific studies.  Education: without a doubt, the gift that keeps on giving! From Dr. Susan Bailey: "I welcome the opportunity to share my experiences since receiving the scholarship back in 1995! After earning my PhD in Biomedical Sciences at UCSD, I completed two postdoctoral fellowships.  In the first, I continued work on the topic of my graduate work in Pamela Mellon's laboratory- regulation of pituitary development and gene expression.  In the second, I moved to the Neurobehavioral Genetics group at the Genomics Institute of Novartis, where my research focused on identifying genes associated with anxiety and depression-related disorders.  I moved with the group to the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where I held a position as Research Assistant Professor....

Deepika Suresh, 2015 UCSD Howell Scholar, presented her work at the Howell Foundation's 20th anniversary luncheon.  She, along with H. Irene Su MD MSCE and Sally Dominick PhD MPH, are working on developing an education intervention on genetic risk assessment in young breast cancer survivors (YBCS).  "My objective is to develop content about genetic risk assessment in YBCS for a web-based survivorship care plan that my lab is in the process of creating", Suresh comments. "The three main steps in developing this content include going through the professional society guidelines to see what they recommend about these YBCS undergoing genetic risk assessment, completing a systematic review, and conducting interviews with genetic counselors. Ultimately, I wanted to find out what the main barriers are that prevent young breast cancer survivors from undergoing genetic risk assessment and how to overcome these." An update of her work below.  Thank you Deepika for...

                                                                       ### About the Doris A. Howell Foundation:  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 students researching issues affecting women’s health; providing a forum for medical experts, scientists, doctors, and researchers to convey 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 improve the health of under-served women and increase awareness and advocacy in the commu...

Pictured above with Dr. Howell:  UCSD-Howell Scholars Liza Brusman, Jessie Chen and Deepika Suresh during Foundation's Lecture Series in May.   The Doris A. Howell Foundation announced it awarded 3 scholarships to UCSD students currently conducting research on women's health.  And while their fields of research are fascinating, the sentiment for women's health research reflects what the Foundation is all about.  Congratulations to our scholars!  We wish you all the success! Liza Brusman: "The opportunity to continue my work on this project would deepen my understanding of reproductive medicine and enlighten my future career path. Since beginning my work in this lab, my knowledge of reproductive biology has deepened significantly. I have become much more familiar with areas of research in reproductive medicine, as well as the systematic and molecular biological pathways of reproduction. In order to understand my project, I learned how reproduc...

Pictured above: Betty Brayshay, Brad Benter, Carole Banka, Steve Dahms, Carolyn Northrup and Dr. Doris Howell Board members from the Doris A. Howell Foundation gathered yesterday to work on new and creative ideas to discuss the importance of women's health news and research across the board...pun intended! So why is this so important? Just this week gender equality was all over the news; this time on the difference in pay between male and female nurses.  THAT translates into research as well.  Recent studies have shown that there is still a lack of female representation in preclinical studies and clinical trials, not to mention the differences when it comes to prescribing medication... we all have heard about how ambien affects women differently than men. As a result, if women continue to receive the same medical treatment as men, the women we love are at great risk of being unhealthy.  In other words, women are NOT men with ovaries. But what does it mean f...