Your Gift in Action at The Center for Women's Health Research

AT THE CENTER FOR WOMEN’S HEALTH RESEARCH

thank you With the remarkable commitment of our community, the Center for Women’s Health Research (CWHR) is now a national leader in women’s health and sex differences research.

We are starting to see exciting evidence that our research will impact women’s health and the health of the family.

Since we began in 2004, our exciting work has focused on diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diabetes and cardiovascular disease across the lifespan. For the first time in our history, we have decided to expand our focus areas and now are including research into the intersection of mental and physical health. Simultaneously, our dedication to career development for young researchers is growing the field of women’s

health/sex differences research and expanding the workforce, speeding progress on closing the knowledge gap.

Our unique commitment to community involvement is helping women, their families and their health care providers make informed health care decisions. Because of you, we will change lives and we are excited about the future of women’s health.

- Judy Regensteiner, PhD Director and Co-Founder, Center for Women’s Health Research

FUELED BY PHILANTHROPY Your generous support is critical to successful achievements such as: • Successfully executed the 2nd biennial National Conference on Women’s Health Research.

• Expanded our focus areas to include integrated mental and physical health; actively recruiting for an endowed chair in this area.

• Fueled 76% year-over-year growth in seed grant applications and a 43% increase in awards.

• Established the first endowment to support our faculty development seed grant program.

• Sold out capacity at our Annual Community Luncheon two years in a row.

• Doubled the number of researcher trainings offered.

• Hosted the 7th Annual Women’s Health Summit – a North American initiative to increase women’s health endowed chairs in internal medicine and subspecialties.

• Overhauled communications tools and execution that have led to an exponential increase in outreach, awareness and knowledge with the community, clinicians and researchers.

by the numbers

*giving to the Center for Women’s Health Research since 2017

1

$

287

$9,901,119

ST

733

total benefactors*

first-time benefactors*

total giving*

YOU’VE MADE THIS POSSIBLE The CWHR has seen steady growth at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus since receiving official center status fifteen years ago. Philanthropy has made it possible for us to fund over 70 researchers from 34 different divisions and departments across the University of Colorado system, from bioengineering and emergency medicine to pediatric cardiology and psychiatry. This has resulted in over 718 publications that have significantly added to the body of knowledge regarding women’s health and sex/gender differences.

We also awarded nearly $1.8 million in grants to junior researchers, and these same researchers have gone on to secure over $79 million in additional funding. Thus, for every $1 we invest through grants, CWHR researchers garner over $44 in external funding primarily from the National Institutes of Health.

In 2018, our philanthropic support achieved an all-time high, allowing us to expand our focus areas for the first time to include the intersection of mental and physical health. Meanwhile, we saw tremendous increase in demand by junior researchers at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus, and interest from international and national research institutions that wish to expand their own research in women’s health and sex/gender differences.

CLARE PATERSON, PHD Dr. Paterson joined CU Anschutz in September 2012 and is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry. Her current research aims to understand the origins of mental health and neurodevelopmental disorders. Dr. Paterson studies the genes and proteins that are responsible for normal brain development and function, and how they interact with brain disorders. Support from the CWHR allowed Dr. Paterson to establish a novel rodent model for studying offspring born from complicated pregnancies. This will allow her to apply for independent funding and to further expand her research.

“Without your support, I would not be able to conduct my research.

Thank you for caring about the health of our community.”

- Clare Paterson, PhD Assistant Professor, CU Department of Psychiatry

KRISTEN NADEAU, MD, MS Dr. Nadeau was the first seed grant recipient at the CWHR in 2006. Her primary research interest is on adolescents with type 1 and 2 diabetes. We know that type 2 diabetes is more common in girls than in boys. And for girls who have type 1 diabetes, they are predisposed to cardiovascular issues at a higher rate than boys.

By understanding these differences, researchers can work to prevent diabetes and the complications of the disease in adolescent girls.

“The next step in my research is to back up and really understand what is happening in utero, so we can prevent type 1 diabetes in young girls. We are also dedicated to understanding why girls are at a higher risk of developing diabetes than boys in puberty. Our hope is to develop better treatment options in addition to preventative strategies and change our children’s lives. I am so grateful to the CWHR and our community of supporters for investing in this life-changing work.”

- Kristen Nadeau, MD, MS Professor, CU Department of Pediatrics

PRATEETI KHAZANIE, MD Dr. Khazanie received a CWHR seed grant to investigate why women make up only 15 to 20% of cardiology patients in the U.S. who receive ventricular assist devices (VADs), which often improve survival and quality of life. This research aimed to understand if the disparity was due in part to implicit bias in the social assessment for VAD candidacy. In understanding the social determinants in evaluating patients for this device, we can develop a standardized system for evaluating both men and women for advanced heart failure therapies.

“Women’s health is a basic human right, so I think it is really important that we understand women’s health and how women present with diseases. We need to make sure we treat them appropriately, and refer them for advanced treatments the same as men.”

- Prateeti Khazanie, MD Assistant Professor, CU School of Medicine

CU Anschutz Office of Advancement | advancement@cuanschutz.edu | 303.724.6336 If you would prefer to receive these updates electronically, please email advancement@cuanschutz.edu