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October 9-10, 2018

Magee-Womens Research Summit: It all Begins with Women’s Health

In 2018, the inaugural Magee-Womens Research Summit brought together more than 500 attendees from 16 different countries to discuss complexities surrounding women’s health on a global scale. Scientists, clinicians, hospital administrators, and industry experts joined influential policymakers and prominent health advocates to exchange information and ideas intended to focus on women’s health research as a scientific priority across multiple disciplines.

Magee-Womens Research Summit 2018 Speaker Highlights

The Magee-Womens Research Summit brought together a broad and diverse cohort of scientists and stakeholders. It gave researchers the opportunity to showcase their work and meet others for potential

collaboration. It gave a voice to patients, and it launched an international conversation on topics that could potentially influence human health across the lifespan.

The Magee-Womens Research Summit brought together a broad and diverse cohort of scientists and stakeholders. It gave researchers the opportunity to showcase their work and meet others for potential collaboration. It gave a voice to patients, and it launched an international conversation on topics that could potentially influence human health across the lifespan.

Section 5.Speaker McCarthy

University of Maryland School of Medicine

Margaret McCarthy

Section 5 Speaker 2.Annette Nakimuli-min

Makerere University, Uganda

Annette Nakimuli

Section 5. Speaker 3. Leroy Hood-min

Institute for Systems Biology, Providence St. John's Health

Leroy Hood

Section 5.Speaker Lo

Chinese University of Hong Kong

Dennis Lo

Section 5.Speaker 5. Yoel Sadovsky-min

Magee-Womens Research Institute

Yoel Sadovsky

Section 5. Speaker 6. Subra Suresh-min

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Subra Suresh

Bringing the best scientific minds in medicine together in one place.

The Magee-Womens Research Summit highlighted advancements in women’s health and reproductive biology and built a new conversation around future precision medicine-based discoveries addressing three key pillars of wellness:

Section 6. Sex Differences. 2018 Recapb-min

Sex Differences Beyond X and Y: While some diseases - such as prostate or ovarian cancer - are sex specific, there are more widespread implications at play, too. Women face unique threats due to hormones, reproductive health, pregnancy, childbirth and menopause, and gender plays a role in the rate of occurrence, manifestation, diagnosis and even mortality rates.

Section 6. 9-90. 2018 Recapb-min

9-90 Origins of Wellness & Disease: Biological, medical, nutritional, environmental and social determinants of health coalesce during this critical gestational period, influencing the course of wellness and disease for a lifetime.

Section 6. Aging. 2018 Recapb-min

Aging Reimagined in the Age of Precision Medicine: Until recently, it has been virtually impossible to target diagnostics, treatment and disease prevention based on an individual’s genetic makeup, exposures and lifestyle. However, rapid advances in biology and medicine are paving the way for longer, healthier lives. This new era of precision medicine is focused on keeping people well and preventing their transitions into disease states.

2018 Magee Prize Awardee

Section 7. Magee Prize Winners-min
Magee Prize Team

The Placental Origin of Congenital Heart Defects

Yaacov Barak, Ph.D., principal investigator, Magee-Womens Research Institute; Myriam Hemberger, Ph.D., University of Calgary; Henry Sucov, Ph.D., University of South Carolina

Over twenty years ago, Dr. Yaacov Barak found that mouse embryos with a particular mutated gene — expressed only in the placenta — suffered fatal defects in both the placenta and the heart. Fixing the gene just in the placenta corrected the heart defect, and recently researchers have found a similar trend among human babies. Heart defects occur in approximately one in 150 live births, but causes are often unknown. If the Magee Prize-winning research solidifies the heart-placenta connection, it could lead to earlier detection, and even prevention of and treatment for congenital heart defects.

Section 7. Award Finalists. Hilary Gammill-min
Magee Prize Finalists

Cardiovascular impact of Maternal-Fetal Cell Exchange

Hilary Gammill, M.D., University of Washington; Carl Hubel, Ph.D., Magee-Womens Research Institute; Annetine Staff, M.D., Ph.D., University of Oslo

In a phenomenon known as microchimerism, fetal cells pass through the placenta and take up residence within the mother’s body. This happens to a greater extent in a woman whose pregnancy is complicated by preeclampsia, which is associated with cardiovascular disease later in life. This team hypothesized that maternal-fetal cells contribute to heart disease in women both during and after pregnancy. The Magee Prize would have allowed for the collaboration for the researchers to reach larger, more diverse research populations.

Section Seven. Award Finalists.orwig-min
Magee Prize Finalists

Editing The Human Germ Line

Kyle Orwig, Ph.D., Magee-Womens Research Institute; Alexander Yatsenko, M.D., Ph.D., Magee-Womens Research Institute; Katsuhiko Hayashi, Ph.D., University of Japan; Amander Clark, Ph.D., University of California Los Angeles

In the U.S., about 1.3 million people of reproductive age are infertile because they can’t produce viable germline cells - sperm or eggs. Faulty genes are responsible about half of the time. This team’s research into the genes that cause infertility and methods for repairing those genes aims to offer new hope to infertile patients.

2021 Magee-Womens Summit

Support the future of women’s health...and the world’s health