Medical School Fund for Women's Health Names Awardees

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December 16, 1999

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HARVARD GAZETTE ARCHIVES

The Harvard Medical School (HMS) Fund for Women’s Health awarded grants to eight HMS junior faculty this month. The Fund provides $45,000 yearlong grants to help junior faculty members initiate new, collaborative, inter-institutional projects in basic research, clinical research, health services research, or education in women’s health. The grants also focus on women’s health issues of particular concern to minority and disadvantaged groups, and address important women’s health issues that are poorly supported.

"Women’s health is an important and growing area, reflecting the increasing multidisciplinary nature of research and clinical care. The tremendous response to this first offering of the HMS Fund for Women’s Health shows that there is a need to expand resources available to both women researchers and for women's health topics," said Pamela Douglas, research director of the Medical School’s Center of Excellence in Women’s Health.

This year’s grant recipients will explore topics ranging from molecular manipulations to preserve ovarian function in women undergoing cancer treatment to a clinical trial testing a smoking-cessation drug during pregnancy. The grants were awarded at a reception on Thursday, Dec. 9.

"The large number of excellent grant applications we received indicates that Harvard Medical School’s Fund for Women’s Health has already begun to catalyze an expansion of multidisciplinary research in women’s health. The funded grants will not only investigate important topics in women’s health, but will also support the advancement of women and minorities in their academic careers," said Andrea Dunaif, director of Harvard Medical School’s Center of Excellence in Women’s Health.

Recipients of the 1999 Harvard Medical School Fund for Women, their research topics, and their collaborators are listed below.

Gloria I. Perez, Instructor in Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital

"Molecular Genetic Manipulations to Preserve Ovarian Function in Females Undergoing Cancer Treatments"
Junying Yuan (Harvard Medical School); Stanley Korsmeyer (Dana Farber Cancer Institute)

Maria Rupnick, Instructor in Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

"Is Endometriosis Angiogenesis-Dependent?"
Lawrence Brown (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center); Richard Rohan (Children’s Hospital)

Paula A. Johnson, Assistant Professor of Medicine, and JudyAnn Bigby, Associate Professor of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

"The Impact of ‘One-Stop’ Comprehensive Care on the Quality of Care for Minority Women"
Jennifer Potter (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center); Karen Carlson (Massachusetts General Hospital)

Hope Ricciotti, Instructor in Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Phyllis Carr, Instructor in Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital

"Women’s Health Education at the Harvard Teaching Hospitals"

Elizabeth Armstrong (Harvard Medical School)

Allison B. Goldfine, Instructor in Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

"The Role of Estrogen on Vascular Function in Insulin Resistant Women"
Marie D. Gerhard (Brigham and Women’s Hospital); Ellen W. Seely (Brigham and Women’s Hospital); Caren Solomon (Brigham and Women’s Hospital)

Rong Tian, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

"Gender Differences in the Outcome of Myocardial Ischemia in Diabetics: The Role of Cardiac Glucose Utilization"
Evan Dale Abel (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center)

Francine K. Welty, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

"The Effect of Soy Phytoestrogens and Low-Dose Estrogen on Lipid Levels, Brachial Artery Function and Biochemical Markers of Bone Turnover in Postmenopausal Women"
Marie Gerhard (Brigham and Women’s Hospital)

Maria Mascola, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital

"A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial of Sustained Release of Bupropion for Smoking Cessation During Pregnancy"

Ellice Lieberman (Brigham and Women’s Hospital); Diana Rodriguez-Thompson (Brigham and Women’s Hospital); Susan Hellerstein (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center)

Harvard Medical School's Center of Excellence in Women’s Health was established in 1998 to bring together HMS faculty from three affiliated hospitals (Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Massachusetts General Hospital) and the Medical School to develop new collaborative clinical, academic advancement, education, and research programs in women’s health. It is one of only 17 such centers recognized nationally and is funded by the U.S. Public Health Service’s Office on Women’s Health, Department of Health and Human Services.