May 8, 2008

VCU Institute for Women’s Health hosts 4th Annual Women’s Health Research Day

A Celebration and Promotion of Research in Women’s Health

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By Sabrina Walters
VCU Communications and Public Relations

From left, Diane B. Wilson, Ed.D., associate professor of internal medicine, Massey Cancer Center with the winner of the Elizabeth Fries Young Investigators Award, Guadalupe Estrada, Ph.D., fellow, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Susan Kornstein, M.D., executive director of the VCU Institute for Women’s Health. Image courtesy of Sabrina Walters.
From left, Diane B. Wilson, Ed.D., associate professor of internal medicine, Massey Cancer Center with the winner of the Elizabeth Fries Young Investigators Award, Guadalupe Estrada, Ph.D., fellow, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Susan Kornstein, M.D., executive director of the VCU Institute for Women’s Health. Image courtesy of Sabrina Walters.

The Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women’s Health recently hosted the 4th Annual Women’s Health Research Day, which celebrated and promoted excellence in interdisciplinary women’s health research and featured experts who discussed the physical, mental and general welfare of women.

This year’s event was attended by approximately 175 VCU faculty, staff and students, representing more than 30 departments.

Keynote speaker, Kathleen Brady, M.D., Ph.D., a board-certified psychiatrist specializing in addiction psychiatry and a professor at the Medical University of South Carolina, presented, “Knocking Down Silos: Fostering Women’s Health & Gender-Based Research.” Brady discussed some of the health issues faced by woman today like heart disease, obesity and the sudden increase in strokes in the last five years.

A panel of VCU women’s health research experts discussed translational research in women’s health and how to integrate basic and clinical research with patient care.

The panel featured Dace Svikis, Ph.D., associate professor in the departments of psychology, psychiatry and obstetrics and gynecology; Lori Keyser-Marcus, Ph.D., assistant professor, department of psychiatry; Linda Meloy, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics; and Pamela Dillon, Pharm.D., research liaison in VCU’s Center for Clinical and Translational Research. The panel was moderated by Ann Nichols-Casebolt, Ph.D., associate vice president for research development.

Guadalupe Estrada, Ph.D., fellow in the VCU Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, features her research poster titled “Neutrophils Alter Expression of Vascular Smooth Muscle Collagen Regulating Genes,” while displaying her certificate for the Elizabeth Fries Young Investigator Award. Image courtesy of Sabrina Walters.
Guadalupe Estrada, Ph.D., fellow in the VCU Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, features her research poster titled “Neutrophils Alter Expression of Vascular Smooth Muscle Collagen Regulating Genes,” while displaying her certificate for the Elizabeth Fries Young Investigator Award. Image courtesy of Sabrina Walters.

The event also included a display of 55 research posters by VCU students that covered a wide range of women’s health topics. More than two thirds of the posters were eligible for the Elizabeth Fries Young Investigator Award, created in memory of Elizabeth Fries, Ph.D., a VCU psychology professor who served as co-director of cancer control at the VCU Massey Cancer Center. Fries died in 2005. The award is given to a young researcher who shows promise for improving women’s health.


This year’s winning poster was presented by Guadalupe Estrada, a Ph.D. fellow in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Her poster titled “Neutrophils Alter Expression of Vascular Smooth Muscle Collagen Regulating Genes” describes collagen as an important protein that maintains the structural integrity of tissues. The findings suggest that neutrophil infiltration in preeclamptic women could cause vascular dysfunction by creating an imbalance between collagen synthesis and collagen breakdown favoring breakdown.

Estrada, a native of Mexico, is VCU’s first Fogarty International Scholar. This program encourages the training of Latin American scientists in reproductive biology and medicine. Her research mentors are Scott Walsh, Ph.D., in the VCU Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Jerome F. Strauss III, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the VCU School of Medicine.

The VCU Institute for Women’s Health was established in 1999. The initiative promotes the standards of excellence in women’s health care with advanced cutting edge research.  Through the goal of improving the health of woman, it fosters community outreach and collaboration, enhances women’s leadership, and provides training and education.

All poster abstracts are available at
http://www.womenshealth.vcu.edu/research/research_day_2008.html.