Center for Women’s Health Engineering to host Mini-Research Symposium

One-day event to spotlight groundbreaking research

Caitlyn Spradley 12.20.2024

McKelvey School of Engineering. (Credit: Whitney Curtis)

The Center for Women’s Health Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis invites practitioners, researchers and the WashU community to the Center for Women’s Health Engineering Mini-Research Symposium, a one-day event that will explore the latest research in women’s health engineering and clinical translation at WashU.

“The challenges affecting women’s health conditions need to be addressed by advancing and accelerating development of innovative technologies and clinical translation,” said Quing Zhu, interim director of the Center for Women’s Health Engineering and Edwin H. Murty Professor of Engineering in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. “Bringing together researchers from the McKelvey School of Engineering and WashU Medicine will help to spark conversation and collaboration while showcasing the ongoing women’s health-related research at WashU.”

This year’s event will take place Jan. 10 in Whitaker Hall. Research presentations will address three major areas related to women’s health, including gynecological cancer; pregnancy and reproduction; and a blood test that decodes pain.

Speakers from WashU’s McKelvey School of Engineering and WashU Medicine include the following:

Matthew Bersi, assistant professor of mechanical engineering & materials science;
Nardhy Gomez-Lopez, professor of obstetrics and gynecology;
Adam Kepecs, Robert J. Terry Professor of Neuroscience, professor of psychiatry and BJC Investigator;
David G. Mutch, MD, professor of obstetrics and gynecology;
Christine O’Brien, assistant professor of biomedical engineering;
Sara Roccabianca, associate professor of mechanical engineering & materials science;
Farners Amargant i Riera, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology;

The symposium’s planning committee includes Zhu, Bersi and Alexandra Rutz, assistant professor of biomedical engineering.

The symposium seeks to bring attention to the many unmet needs and challenges in the study of women’s health and highlight the center’s commitment to addressing these needs, organizers said.

“There is a need for focused research efforts related to solving the critical challenges in the field of women’s health,” Zhu said. “To do this, diverse research teams of engineers and medical professionals are needed to begin to identify and to develop innovative solutions in women’s health engineering.”

The symposium will include a poster session, networking and a reception to spark new connections and collaborations toward addressing unfulfilled demands in women’s health.

For more details and to register for the event, visit the Center for Women’s Health Engineering Mini-Research Symposium.