2023 Howell Health Lecture Series
Presenting Cutting-edge Research to Advance Women’s Health.
Howell Lecture Series Program presents:
“How Did We Get Here?”
The changing state of reproductive health care in California: post-Dobbs decision, mifepristone use for medication abortion and miscarriage management, training for reproductive healthcare providers.
Friday, March 31, 2023
12:00 – 1:00 PM
ZOOM Webinar
Registration fee: $25 (100% tax deductible)
Register by 3/27/2023.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Janet Jacobson is Senior Vice President of Clinical Services and Medical Director of Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties and Assistant Clinical Professor (Volunteer), University of California Irvine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Jacobson is Board Certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology with Board Subspecialty Certification in Complex Family Planning. Dr. Jacobsen has been serving patients in Southern California since 2013; her clinic receives over 230,000 patient visits per year.
Howell Statement on Reproductive Justice
Following the 2022 Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern PA v. Casey, women’s access to and physician’s abilities to offer reproductive healthcare across the country changed.
We know that this issue is deeply personal. The Howell Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to women’s health research. We are committed to providing peer-reviewed, research-based information on important issues that impact women’s health. Our nonprofit is charitable and educational, and we have a trusted role and responsibility to provide cutting-edge, research-based information on women’s health issues.
The Friends of the Howell Foundation are the heart of our organization. We are diverse, intelligent, accomplished, and caring members of the community with differing lives and beliefs. We recognize and respect that our members will hold different views on reproductive health and justice issues. We remain united by our common goals of educating the next generation of women’s health researchers and keeping “the women we love healthy.”
During the difficult and isolating COVID19 pandemic, we came together to learn and discuss the latest research on vaccine development and safety. With the same positive intent, we are offering a non-political, civic-minded webinar to learn about the complex and nuanced medical data and facts about pregnancy and the miscarriages that affect women of reproductive age, as well as their families. True to our mission, we will continue to provide community education to improve women’s health.
2023 Board of Directors
Doris A. Howell Foundation for Women’s Health Research
February, 2023
Annual Top Women’s Health Stories of the Year
Christina Chambers, PhD
Professor of Pediatrics and
Co-Director of the Center for Better Beginnings, UC San Diego
Cynthia Stuenkel, MD
Clinical Professor of Medicine
Founding member and Past President of the North American Menopause Society
UC San Diego
Andrea LaCroix, PhD
Distinguished Professor and Chief of Epidemiology,
Director, Women’s Health
Center of Excellence
UC San Diego
Dr. Chambers, Dr. Stuenkel and Dr. LaCroix reviewed the most relevant research stories that took place in 2022, and the impact it may have in women’s health during 2023 and beyond.
November, 2022
Key Actions You Can Take TODAY to Promote Bone Health for TOMORROW
Dr. Gina Woods
UC San Diego Health
Two renowned experts in the field, Dr. Woods and Dr. Hofflich discussed:
August, 2022
Know thyself at Menopause and Beyond: Knowledge is Power
Kathryn Macaulay, MD
Director, UCSD Menopause Health Program. Clinical Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, UC San Diego Health
Andrea Z. LaCroix, PhD
Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology. Director, Women’s Health Center of Excellence. Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego
Two experts in the field of women’s health, Dr. Macaulay and Dr. LaCroix presented:
-paradigm-shifting research findings from the Study of Women Across the Nation (SWAN), and Menopause Strategies: Finding Lasting Answers to Symptoms and Health (MsFLASH) Trials Network.
-what we’ve learned about the menopause transition: the common symptoms and issues women encounter, how long it lasts, who is most affected by vasomotor and other symptoms of menopause, and what we have learned about the most effective, evidence-based treatments including Hormone Therapy and non-hormonal therapies.
-a demonstration of the brand new MyMenoPlan digital resource (mymenoplan.org ) and preliminary results of the first randomized trial evaluating its effectiveness to help women understand menopause, research their symptoms, and present evidence on whether treatments work for their symptoms or not.
May, 2022
Aging and Age-related Eye Diseases: The Women Perspective
Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk, PhD
February, 2022
Be your own Valentine! Love your heart and your health
Katherine Richman, MD, FACR
November, 2021
Finding Self-Empathy and Compassion: A Unique Way to Reduce Stress via Kelee Meditation
Empathy is rooted in caring, but caring for others often comes at the expense of those providing care in the form of emotional exhaustion, for instance. Can you care for another person without affecting yourself adversely? Dr. Daniel Lee and Dr. Amy Sitapati walked us through the basics of Kelee meditation, a 5 minute meditation performed twice daily to help you to learn mental stillness and how to calm and relax your mind, so that you can be more centered and present, when caring for yourself and others.
Daniel Lee, MD
Clinical Professor of Medicine,
UC San Diego Department of Medicine, Owen Clinic
Amy Sitapati, MD
Clinical Professor of Medicine, UC San Diego
Department Of Medicine and Biomedical Informatics,
Chief Medical Officer of Population Health, Clinical Systems
September, 2021
Microplastic pollution and human health
July 2021
Finding Resilience through Challenging Times: Self-help Care Tips for Women
The Howell Foundation partnered with Sharp Healthcare to bring a first-hand account on how COVID 19 affected women. It examined the different perspectives and, importantly, the impact of stress experienced during the pandemic. The panel of experts focused on strategies for tapping into resilience and finding meaning during challenging times, and discuss skills to support your self-care and well-being during the beyond the pandemic.
Wearable Electrochemcial Sensors for non-Invasive Monitoring of Health Status
Juliane Sempionatto, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Researcher at Caltech
In May, Dr. Sempionatto introduced the application of non-invasive wearable devices –or point-of-care sensors – currently in development, and discussed the challenges of the application of nanoengineering to biochemical measurement, as well as the opportunities involved in building a successful electrochemical wearable biosensor for monitoring important parameters related to women’s health.
March, 2021
The Importance of Sleep in Aging Women: Why Can't Grammie Sleep?
Sonia Ancoli-Israel, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Center for Circadian Biology at UCSD
In March, Dr. Ancoli-Israel addressed the reason older adults are not getting the sleep they need, pointing to the fact that it is not a result of aging per se, but rather a result of all the things that happen to women as they age. Her presentation focused on the need vs. the ability to sleep, the consequences of poor sleep in older adults, the co-morbidities associated with poor sleep, the primary sleep disorders in older adults, and the cardinal rules for good sleep.
February, 2021
Top Ten Stories on Women's Health, 2020 Edition
In February, the Howell Foundation hosted three experts in the field of women’s health. The Annual Howell Foundation Top Women’s Health Stories of 2020 reviewed an update of the most relevant research stories that took place in 2020, and the impact it has in women’s health during 2021 and beyond.
Christina Chambers, Ph.D.
Professor of Pediatrics and Co-Director of the Center for Better Beginnings @UC San Diego
Pregnant and lactating women are the most understudied group in women’s health research. The uncertainties of a viral disease and the secondary effects of potential drug treatments during pregnancy make it difficult to identify how unborn developing babies and newborns can react to illness and drug treatment.
For her, the top one story of 2020 was about COVID-19 in women during pregnancy and lactation, and how it affects newborns. Dr. Chambers covered the most pressing and frequently asked questions regarding COVID and the health of women through pregnancy, and the outcomes for the developing baby and newborns.
Cynthia Stuenkel, MD
Clinical Professor of Medicine and
Founding Member and Past President of the North American Menopause Society
UC San Diego
Dr. Stuenkel stressed the need of refining and updating the guidelines to assess a women’s risk for heart disease. For her, it’s a two-prong approach: expand cardiovascular risk assessment guidelines, and the need for women to be aware of potential heart disease so they can be proactive about managing their own risk. The bigger conclusion, and what these stories on cardiovascular disease in women show, is that cardiovascular disease risks that were once considered to develop during a 40-year reproductive life span are now developing earlier, during a 30-year lifespan.
Andrea LaCroix, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor and Chief of Epidemiology and
Director, Women’s Health Center of Excellence
UC San Diego
Dr. LaCroix presented issues that affect women in the later stages of life. She discussed the importance of heart palpitations in midlife, how the COVID pandemic has affected cancer screening and diagnosis, she updated the status on hormone therapy in breast cancer. She discussed how adverse childhood experiences are linked to a risk of dementia. And finally, presented new data on the benefits of standing and light physical activity and the association with increasing our lifespan and maintaining mobility.
November, 2020
What are RNA Vaccines? Why is the New Vaccine Technology Being Used Against COVID-19?
Andrew Gaell, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer, Precision Nanosystems
RNA vaccines are a relatively recent innovation but are at the forefront of the many vaccine technologies providing solutions for the COVID-19 pandemic. This talk described the different types of vaccines being developed with a focus on how RNA vaccines are different to conventional vaccine technologies and how they work. It concluded with a review of the available published clinical data.
August, 2020
What Science Tells Us about How to Stay Cognitively Healthy as we Age. Linda McEvoy, Ph.D.
Linda McEvoy, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Radiology, Department of Family Medicine & Public Health,
University of California, San Diego
Dr. Linda McEvoy, guest speaker for our August webinar walked us through the changes the brain goes through as we progress in life, and why women are more prone to cognitive decline. She is one of the Principal Investigators of the Rancho Bernardo Study, a local research project leading the way in cognitive health and aging at a national level. As a matter of fact, it is one of the longest, continuously funded, NIH observational studies in the US.
May, 2020
What We've Learned from COVID-19.
Dr. Nancy Binkin
Renowned virologist and Professor Practice at UCSD
The webinar — a first for the Foundation — "What we've learned from COVID-19" — presented reliable and science-based information on the background and status of the disease, discussed the effects of COVID-19 on our bodies, provided an up-to-date status of cases in our community, and importantly, laid out the actions we can take to stay healthy and safe.
*The status on COVID changes every day. Please visit the CDC, FDA and local Health and Human Services Office for an update.
February, 2020
Top Women's Health Stories of the Year
Christina Chambers, PhD,
Professor of Pediatrics and Co-Director of the Center for Better Beginnings, UCSD
Andrea LaCroix, PhD,
Distinguished Professor and Chief of Epidemiology, Director, Women’s Health Center of Excellence, UCSD
Cynthia Stuenkel, MD,
Clinical Professor of Medicine Founding member and Past President of the North American Menopause Society, UCSD
For the first luncheon of 2020, the Howell Foundation hosted three experts in the field of women’s health research. The presentation “Top Ten Stories in Women’s Health” walked us through the top research impacting women’s health, determined research needs for the betterment of women’s health, explored how to integrate the latest research findings into the diagnosis and treatment of women, and presented an overall update on the pressing issues that affect women in our community.
November, 2019
Latest Research on Metastatic Breast Cancer
Rebecca Shatsky, MD (left)
Brooke Emerling, PhD (Right)
This event featured guest speakers Brooke Emerling, PhD, Assistant Professor, Cancer Metabolism and Signaling-Networks Program, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute and Rebecca A. Shatsky, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, and Dr. Linda Brubaker, Clinical Professor, Reproductive Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology at the School of Health Sciences at UCSD.
August, 2019
Urine Trouble: Women’s Bladder Health and the Urinary Microbiome
Linda Brubaker, MD
This event featured guest speaker Dr. Linda Brubaker, Clinical Professor, Reproductive Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology at the School of Health Sciences at UCSD. Her presentation “Urine Trouble: Women’s Bladder Health and the Urinary Microbiome” explained the facts about the conditions that lead to a urinary tract infection and new treatment being developed to keep our urobiome healthy.
May, 2019
Why Palliative Medicine Must Become Mainstream
Daniel Hoefer, MD
This event featured guest speaker Dr. Hoefer, Chief Medical Officer, Outpatient Palliative Care Program, at Sharp Healthcare. Dr. Hoefer made the case that palliative care is no longer just the responsibility of specialists in geriatrics but is important for all specialties in medicine. He explained why over-treatment is a deadly disease and all the things that can compromise a patient’s well-being during a hospital admission.
February, 2019
Women and Diabetes: Use of digital technologies in diabetes care
Athena Philis-Tsimikas, MD.
This event featured guest speaker Dr. Philis-Tsimikas, Corporate Vice President of the Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute at Scripps Health and the Director of Community Engagement at Scripps Translational Science Institute in San Diego, California
November, 2018
Dementia: perspectives, progress and promise
Amy Borenstein, PhD,
Pamela Maher, PhD.
Dr. Borenstein is Professor of Epidemiology at UC-San Diego. Dr. Borenstein described dementia and its major subtypes as well as the most important risk factors for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. She also discussed ongoing trials of antibodies against the Alzheimer protein beta-amyloid as well as lifestyle changes that may delay the onset of the disease to later ages.
Dr. Maher is a Senior Staff Scientist at The Salk Institute. Dr. Maher discussed the rationale behind the Salk Institute’s approach to the development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of AD. She provided examples of the use of this approach, and summarized where research is right now and what she hopes to accomplish in the future.
August, 2018
Addiction: it’s not just drugs and alcohol
Carolyn Coker Ross, MD
Dr. Carolyn Coker Ross addressed multiple addictions, the common factors and novel remedies. Dr. Ross maintains private practices in Denver and San Diego using both western and complimentary medicine to treat a wide array of addictions.
June, 2018
Health & Happiness Evening Series
Improving Benefits and Reducing Harms from Breast Cancer Screening: The WISDOM Trial
Barbara A Parker, MD,
Andrea Z. LaCroix, PhD
Lisa Madlensky, PhD
In support of the WISDOM (Women Informed to Screen Depending On Measures of risk) trial, the event focused on informing the audience about current breast screening technologies, and the research currently being conducted to establish the guidelines based on personal history and genetics. Hosting three renowned specialists in the areas of oncology, epidemiology and genetic testing, the objective was to inform the San Diego community about the latest research being conducted regarding breast cancer screening guidelines, their efficacy, and the steps required to provide women with accurate, personalized prevention processes that effectively diagnose and treat breast cancer on an individualized basis.
May, 2018
Advanced Tissue Therapies -
Progress in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
Benjamin Shepherd, PhD
Dr. Benjamin Shepherd presented the latest and most innovative developments in using cultured human tissues for vital organ transplantation. Dr. Shepherd is Senior Director of Therapeutics at Organovo.
Dr. Shepherd talked about examples of tissue engineering for both drug discovery and therapeutic tissue development. His presentation focused on current research areas where bioscience and technology have been very successful. He elaborated on the areas of challenge in tissue regeneration: 1) current efforts in organ reconstruction based on previous research in vascular grafts (the blood vessel space), and 2) efforts focused on “additive manufacturing”, also known as 3-dimensional printing. Of significant importance are the future applications of his own research in both areas.
February, 2018
Latest Advances in Medical and Surgical Treatment of Heart Disease
Anthony De Maria, MD
Dr. Anthony De Maria, Judith and Jack White Chair of Cardiology and Founding Director of the UCSD Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center, presented the latest advances in medical and surgical treatment of heart disease.
November, 2017
Be Better Fed: Fasting, Fats and (Plant Based) Food
Speakers Panel:
Katherine (Meg) Richman, MD, FACR
“Healthy, (Nutrient) Wealthy, Wise: The Benefits of Plant-based Nutrition to Prevent Cancer, Osteoporosis, & Dementia”
Abigail D’Agostino, RN, BSN, MBA
“Fasting: to eat or not to eat (and when), those are the questions!”
Carole L. Banka, PhD
“In Defense of Fats”
August, 2017
Improving the snooze: Sleeping better as we age
Andrea Z. LaCroix, PhD.
Dr. Andrea LaCroix, Professor and Chief of Epidemiology in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health at UCSD, spoke about how sleep changes as we age, the problems that women experience with sleep in midlife and beyond, and the ways we are learning to improve sleep without using sedative and hypnotic drugs.
May, 2017
Cannabis: the good, the bad, the myths and the reality
Igor Grant, M.D., F.R.C.P.(C)
Susan F. Tapert, Ph.D.
With the passage of Proposition 64 legalizing the recreational use of marijuana in California last November, it seemed timely to hear about research surrounding this issue. Dr, Grant discussed his research on clinical use of cannabis. Dr. Tapert addressed the effects of cannabis on the adolescent brain.
March 2017
Ending the arms race with infectious diseases
Janelle Ayres, Ph.D.
Dr. Ayres’s fascinating presentation outlined her ultimate goal to develop treatments for infectious and non-infectious diseases without the need for antibiotics.
February, 2017
Chocolate and Cardiovascular Disease: The Bitter Truth
Pam R. Taub, MD FACC
Dr. Taub discussed cardiovascular disease in women, the risk factors for heart disease, preventive measures for heart disease and the story of chocolate.
January, 2017
Health & Happiness Symposium
Dr. Sanjaya Saxena
Dr. Jill Bormann
Laura Sepulveda
Dr. Carole Banka
New year, new life! How to better manage stress including the hidden disorder that no one talks about. The Howell Foundation’s Health and Happiness Series presented its first symposium focused on sources, health consequences and coping skills related to stress.
With the key note presentation on Hoarding by Dr. Sanjaya Saxena delivered an in depth understanding of the differences between cluttering and hoarding and the tools to mitigate the stress of dealing with either. We also had the honor of hosting experts who gave us an in-depth perspective on how to manage the stress that derives from this and other sources, including: ‘Using mantram meditation to reduce stress’,with Dr. Jill Bormann, ‘Using Pilates to reduce stress’, with Laura Sepulveda, and ‘Stress and your health: consequences and coping – gender matters,’ with our own Dr. Carole Banka. On-site Massage therapy was provided by the Wellness Institute of America www.TheWellnessInstituteOfAmerica.org.
November, 2016
Intelligent Aging
Claudia Kawas, MD
Cheryl Wilson, RN, MA, LNHA
The Howell Foundation celebrated its last luncheon of 2016 with a topic that concerns us all: “Intelligent Aging”. We had the honor of hosting two experts that gave us an in-depth perspective on the intelligent steps to take in our aging journey.
September, 2016
Health & Happiness Evening Series
The Happy Map
Hilary Stokes, Ph.D.
Kimberly Ward, Ph.D.
Drs. Stokes and Ward took attendees on a step by step journey to developing the habit of happiness. The novelty that Kim and Hilary bring to the search for happiness is an understanding of the latest neurological research and a method for reprogramming your brain to achieve happiness.
August, 2016
Unlocking the Power of the Genome
Karen Possemato
Genomics is changing human health – in areas such as Food Safety and Supply, Forensics, Genetic Disease Oncology and Reproductive Health. Ms. Possemato gave an overview that covered the basics of genomics, its potential and the impact it is having today.
May, 2016
Simple Lifestyle Changes for Improving Women’s Health
Dorothy D. Sears, Ph.D.
Dr. Sears presented the latest information about how eating patterns and sedentary behavior are associated with the risk for chronic diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes. She shared insights from her latest women’s health-focused research and newly-funded projects in these areas.
February, 2016
Understanding the genome 10,000 experiments at a time: applying genomic approaches to understand autoimmune disease in women
Sonia Sharma, PhD
Dr. Sharma’s presentation focused on applying genomic approaches to the understanding of autoimmune disease in women. Autoimmune disorders are the third most common cause of disease in Americans, after cancer and cardiovascular disease. There are as many as 80 types of diseases classified as autoimmune and, for reasons largely unclear, women represent 80% of the affected population.
November, 2015
One world, one health
Stanely Maloy, PhD
Infectious diseases are arising at an alarming frequency, making it imperative to understand where emerging diseases come from and why. Although the health of humans, animals, and the environment are inextricably interconnected, practices in human and veterinary medicine rarely recognize these linkages. Dr. Maloy presented how the “One Health” initiative integrates these three disciplines to develop upstream approaches to prevent disease.
October, 2015
Health & Happiness Evening Series Hormones & Happiness
Hormones & Happiness
Carole L. Banka, Ph.D.
Dr. Banka presented the latest research on hormones are interconnected and the potential they have for making us happy or totally miserable.
August, 2015
The promise of the microbiome in human gastrointestinal health
Sarah K. Highlander, PhD
Dr. Highlander’s presentation focused on how studies of the gastrointestinal tract in particular are allowing us to better understand the role of microbes in educating the immune system, response to infectious agents, and in diseases such as gastrointestinal cancers, Crohn’s Disease, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and various autoimmune disease conditions.
May, 2015
Bone Up: What you need to know about Osteoporosis in 2015
Heather Hofflich, DO, FACE
Dr. Hofflich presented new concepts in diagnosis, treatment, and fracture prevention strategies for Osteoporosis.
February, 2015
Telemedicine – Bridging the gap between humans and machines
Todd Coleman, Ph.D.
Dr. Coleman’s presentation focused on merging the most recent wireless technologies to medical care.
November, 2014
Parkinson’s Disease: The Road Ahead
Sherrie Gould, MSN, NP-C
Jeanne F. Loring, Ph.D.
James R. Paterniti, Ph.D.
Goldie Sinegal
The panel presented and discussed topics related to the research advancements currently being conducted, the efforts of the Parkinson’s Disease Association to continue funding Parkinson’s Disease research, testimony from a Parkinson’s patient, the latest in treatment, and a caregiver’s perspective on the challenges of providing care for a Parkinson’s Disease patient.
October, 2014
Health & Happiness Evening Series Depression vs. Sadness...Learning to Know the Differences
Depression vs. Sadness…Learning to Know the Differences
Christina Zampitella, FT, Psy.D.
Dr. Zampitella presented the skills to be able to distinguish sadness from depression, identify when professional help is needed, determine when sadness or depression is improving and how to improve hope while decreasing sadness or depression.
August, 2014
The Unmentionables: What Every Woman Should Know About Pelvic Health
Emily Lukacz, M.D., M.A.S.
Dr. Lukacz discussed the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of the common pelvic disorders, incontinence and prolapse. Her talk focused on both conservative and surgical treatment options for women faced with incontinence and prolapse including behavioral approaches to treatment.
April 2014
Nutrition: A Novel Approach to Pain Management
Robert Bonakdar, M.D.
Examined the current body of science on pain and diet. Included discussion of nutritional factors that may exacerbate pain, approaches for reversing this as well as diet and supplement prescriptions for optimizing pain and related symptoms.
March, 2014
Health and Happiness Evening Series An Integrative Approach to Stress Management: Reducing Stress & Increasing Happiness
An Integrative Approach to Stress Management: Reducing Stress & Increasing Happiness
Tahir Bhatti, M.D., Integrative Psychiatrist and Wellness Physician, UCSD
Carole Banka, Ph.D., Dept. of Medicine, UCSD
Presented the concept of “relational wellness” influences stress management and how “Western” and “complimentary” medicine can be integrated to reduce stress for men and women.
February, 2014
The meal you miss could save your life: How intermittent fasting may extend health-span
The meal you miss could save your life: How intermittent fasting may extend health-span
Roberta Gottlieb, M.D.
Dr. Gottlieb presented the latest research on the relationship between fasting and the benefits that ultimately lead not only to a healthier life, but a longer one.
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