The Wayne State University Office of Women’s Health will officially launch with the presentation of its inaugural symposium Dec. 3 at the university’s McGregor Memorial Conference Center.
The event, which will begin at 10 a.m. and run through 1 p.m., will feature university and community collaborators discussing the needs, actions and next steps required for this specialized office to serve the state of Michigan and the city of Detroit.
The keynote speaker, Janine Clayton, M.D., is the National Institutes of Health’s associate director for Research on Women's Health and the director of the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health. Her presentation, “Putting Women at Center Stage in Biomedical Research,” will begin at 10:15 a.m.
Dr. Clayton is the architect of the NIH policy requiring scientists to consider sex as a biological variable across the research spectrum. This policy is part of the NIH initiative to enhance reproducibility through rigor and transparency. As co-chair of the NIH Working Group on Women in Biomedical Careers with NIH Director Francis Collins, Dr. Clayton also leads the NIH's efforts to advance women in science careers.
She previously served as deputy clinical director of the National Eye Institute for seven years. A board-certified ophthalmologist, Dr. Clayton's research interests include autoimmune ocular diseases and the role of sex and gender in health and disease. She is the author of more than 80 scientific publications, journal articles and book chapters.
She received her undergraduate degree with honors from Johns Hopkins University and her medical degree from Howard University College of Medicine. She completed a residency in Ophthalmology at the Medical College of Virginia and completed fellowship training in cornea and external disease at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and in uveitis and ocular immunology at the NEI.
Dr. Clayton has received numerous awards, including the Senior Achievement Award from the Board of Trustees of the American Academy of Ophthalmology in 2008 and the European Uveitis Patient Interest Association Clinical Uveitis Research Award in 2010. She was named a 2010 Silver Fellow by the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. In 2015, she was awarded the American Medical Association's Lila A. Wallis Women's Health Award and the Wenger Award for Excellence in Public Service. Dr. Clayton received the Bernadine Healy Award for Visionary Leadership in Women's Health in 2016, and was named an honoree for the Women's Day Red Dress Awards and the American Medical Association's Dr. Nathan Davis Award for Outstanding Government Service in 2017.
The event is free, but registration is required. Register here.
The agenda for the entire event includes:
10 a.m.: Welcome and introduction to the Office of Women's Health
10:15 a.m.: Janine Clayton, M.D. - “Putting Women at Center Stage in Biomedical Research”
11 a.m.: Panel 1: WSU Office of Women’s Health, “From Pregnancy to Aging,” a discussion of projects and plans
11:45 a.m.: Panel 2: “Women’s Health in an Urban Setting,” community leaders and collaborators discuss what makes Wayne State University unique
12:30 p.m. – Discussion and next steps