Women’s Health Research Symposium

Jerome (Jeff) Federspiel, MD PhD is an Assistant Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology, secondarily appointed in the Department of Medicine and the Department of Population Health Sciences at the Duke University School of Medicine. A maternal-fetal medicine subspecialist, Dr. Federspiel’s clinical and research focus is the care of pregnancies with hematologic and cardiovascular complications. He completed his medical training at the University of North Carolina, his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and his fellowship at Duke University Medical Center. Despite living in Chapel Hill, Dr. Federspiel’s basketball loyalties remain dark blue, as he was a Duke undergraduate.

Chuan Hong, PhD is currently an Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at Duke University. She received her Ph.D. in biostatistics from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. She has been a postdoctoral fellow in both biostatistics and biomedical informatics, and an Instructor of Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School. Her primary research interests have been focused on developing statistical and machine learning methods with an emphasis on artificial intelligence in healthcare system, predictive modeling, high throughput phenotyping and precision medicine using large scale biomedical data. She has extensive expertise in data harmonization based on representation learning, information retrieval, language model and fairness-aware predictive modeling. She has published 100+ peer-review papers in leading statistical, informatics and biomedical journals such as JAMA, JASA, Biometrics, JAMIA, and npj Digital Medicine.

Kirti Magudia, MD, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Radiology at Duke University School of Medicine. She completed fellowship in abdominal imaging and ultrasound at the University of California, San Francisco and Diagnostic Radiology Residency at Brigham & Women's Hospital. Her research centers on high-level applications of machine learning in radiology, including CT-based body composition analysis and prostate MR, which was facilitated by 7 dedicated months at the MGH/BWH Center for Clinical Data Science and a year long T32 research fellowship in the Biomedical Imaging for Clinical Scientists Program at UCSF. She was the founding resident chair of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Women in the Radiology Program and has extensively advocated for family-friendly trainee policies. Dr. Magudia is a graduate of the Tri-institutional MD/PhD program of Weill Cornell, Sloan-Kettering, and Rockefeller University, where she completed her Ph.D. in cell and cancer biology in the laboratory of Alan Hall developing a novel 3D cell culture model of colon tumorigenesis.

Courtney Van Houtven, PhD is a Professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences (DPHS), Duke University School of Medicine and Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy.  She is also the Director of the Center to Advance the Science of Complex Care: Aging, Disability and Equity at DPHS. Dr. Van Houtven’s aging and economics research interests encompass long-term care financing, intra-household decision-making, and unpaid / family care. She examines how family caregiving affects health care utilization, expenditures, health, and work outcomes of care recipients and caregivers. She also strives to build evidence around which policies and strategies effectively support family caregivers in their role.

Jamila Minga, PhD is a certified speech-language pathologists, clinical scientist, film producer, right hemisphere stroke advocate, and an Associate Professor with a primary appointment in the Department of Head and Neck Surgery & Communication Sciences and a secondary appointment in the Department of Neurology at Duke University School of Medicine. She is also affiliated with Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. Dr. Minga is a former BIRCWH Scholar with pioneering research that led to an NIH-NIDCD K23 grant award to explore the neuroanatomic correlates of language use after right hemisphere stroke, with recent funding approval for her NIH-NIDCD R01 grant to create a language use model using the RHDBank discourse protocol. Her research also includes collaborations with Duke physicians of neurology and hematology to advance science in the occurrence of communication and cognitive impairments in individuals with right hemisphere epilepsy and rare blood disorders, respectively. She serves as a research mentor to Duke University undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students in psychology, neuroscience, and biology.

Haley Arden Moss, MD MBA, is Associate Professor of Gynecologic Oncology at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC, and is on faculty at the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC). She is the Director of the Breast and Gynecologic Oncology System of Excellence (BGSOE) through the National Oncology Program at VAMC. She received her medical degree from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as a business degree at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at New York University and Bellevue Hospital, and fellowship in Gynecologic Oncology at Duke University. Dr. Moss has authored or co-authored several peer-reviewed articles that have been published in journals such as JAMA Oncology, Gynecologic Oncology, The Green Journal and American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. As Director of BGSOE, Dr. Moss leads initiatives to enhance the quality of cancer care for veterans affected by breast and gynecologic malignancies. Her work spans both operational improvements within local facilities and strategic efforts at the national level, with a strong commitment to advancing research in cancer care for veterans with reproductive cancers.

Rebecca Previs, MD MS is a board-certified gynecologic oncologist and the Senior Medical Director at Labcorp Oncology, where she leads the medical affairs team and strategic oncology initiatives to advance precision medicine and improve cancer diagnostics and care delivery. She also serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Gynecologic Oncology at Duke University Medical Center. Prior to joining Labcorp, Dr. Previs was an Assistant Professor and principal investigator at Duke, where she led early phase clinical trials translational research focused on biomarkers and the immune microenvironment in gynecologic cancers. Her work has been supported by grant funding from the NIH, Duke WRHR K12 Program, AAGOF-GOG Foundation, and Emerson Collective. She has mentored numerous trainees and served on national advisory committees, including NRG Oncology.

Dr. Previs completed her fellowship in gynecologic oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center and holds a Master of Science in Cancer Biology. Prior to that, she completed her residency in Obstetrics & Gynecologic at Duke University Medical Center. Her career reflects a deep commitment to advancing women’s health through research, education, and clinical innovation.

Jennifer Wu, MD MPH is originally from Frederick, MD. She earned her B.A. in Biology from Harvard College and her M.D. from the University of California at San Francisco. She trained in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital & Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA and then completed a fellowship in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Concurrently, she received her Masters in Public Health in Epidemiology at the UNC School of Public Health. From 2007-2012, Dr. Wu served on the faculty at Duke University.

Dr. Wu re-joined the Division of Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery at UNC Chapel Hill in 2013, and was appointed Division Director in 2018. In addition to her clinical/surgical practice, she is actively engaged in clinical trials and epidemiologic research of pelvic floor disorders, and she is dedicated to training future subspecialists in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery.  She is currently the Immediate Past President of the American Urogynecologic Society.

Dr. Edwards is a pediatric cardiologist specialized in cardiovascular imaging of the fetus and child. She earned her medical degree from Georgetown University and completed residency training in Pediatrics at New York-Presbyterian / Weill Cornell followed by fellowships in Pediatric Cardiology and Pediatric Advanced Cardiac Imaging at Texas Children’s Hospital and Stanford, respectively. She served as an attending pediatric cardiologist at Seattle Children’s Hospital from 2019 – 2023 before joining the faculty at Duke University School of Medicine in 2023.

Dr. Edwards’ research focuses on the development of novel imaging technology, including machine learning-based applications, to improve diagnosis, management, and prognostication in pediatric and congenital heart disease. Her current work centers around pediatric imaging biomarkers in cancer treatment-related cardiomyopathy. Female sex is a risk factor for cardiomyopathy among childhood cancer survivors. As a BIRCWH scholar, Dr. Edwards investigates sex-based differences in the imaging pattern of cardiac injury following childhood chemotherapy and radiation exposure. She uses machine learning techniques to stratify childhood cancer survivors into phenotypically distinct groups with differential cardiomyopathy risk. Her overall goal is to enhance cardiomyopathy risk prediction and allow for more personalized clinical management for childhood cancer survivors. 

Dr. Jaleel received a Bachelor of Science in Biophysics from University of Alabama in Birmingham 2007. After graduation, she worked with European Institute of Women’s Health as a Fulbright scholar. She received both her Medical Degree and completed her residency in dermatology from University of Alabama in Birmingham School of Medicine. She then joined on as faculty at Duke in 2016 and completed a Master’s in Health Sciences through Duke’s Clinical Research Training Program.  

Dr. Jaleel’s research focuses on studying the role of sex hormones in skin inflammation as it relates to hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) disease pathogenesis. HS is a chronic inflammatory skin condition with acute painful flares that predominantly affects African-Americans, females, and those of lower socio-economic background. It tends to present around puberty and flares of disease have been noted surrounding menses. The role of hormonal fluctuations on disease activity remains to be fully elucidated and there is a desperate need for targeted therapy. Her early work on this topic has been funded by Dermatology Foundation, Skin of Color Society, and Duke School of Medicine Precision Genomics Collaboratory Fostering Interdisciplinary Genomic Science pilot grant. With the BIRCWH award and her team of multidisciplinary collaborators/mentors, Dr. Jaleel will further elucidate mechanisms by which hormone signaling controls skin inflammation with the future goal of identifying novel therapeutic targets.  Her other interests include developing tools to decrease disparities in health outcomes and promoting diversity in dermatology clinical trials.

Dr. Sadun earned her MD/PhD from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California and then completed her MedPeds Residency and Adult and Pediatric Rheumatology Fellowships at Duke University, where she is now an Associate Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics.  Her clinical expertise lies in the care of adolescent and young adult patients as well as patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.  Dr. Sadun’s research focuses on improving outcomes for patients with childhood-onset lupus, a disease characterized by increased morbidity and mortality.

Through the BIRCWH award, Dr. Sadun leads the adaptation of a patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) designed to capture reasons for medication non-adherence in adult lupus patients, ensuring that the adapted tool is able to identify reasons for medication non-adherence in children, teens, and young adults with lupus.  Alongside the adherence PROM, she oversees the development of a lupus-specific PROM to assess lupus-related fatigue in adolescents and young adults. Together, these tools will enable clinicians and researchers to improve morbidity, mortality, and quality of life outcomes for individuals living with childhood-onset lupus.

[Held virtually due to weather] The 2025 Women’s Health Symposium featured BIRCWH scholar presentations, poster sessions, and an interactive session, “Navigating the bumps along your research path” — led by our invited speakers Dr. Sharonne Hayes (Mayo Clinic) and Dr. Cynthia Kuhn (Duke). After a quick pivot from in-person to zoom due to inclement weather, we were pleased to host 95 attendees from various institutions including Duke University, UNC Chapel Hill, NC Central, and Durham Tech Community College. We also welcomed guests from Blue Cross, NC and NC DHHS. Attendees came from a wide range of departmental backgrounds, including obstetrics & gynecology, biomedical sciences, infectious diseases, medicine, pharmacology, psychiatry, and social work. Those in attendance comprised of 28% senior-level faculty, 25% junior-level faculty, and 28% current students (undergraduate, graduate, and medical). There were 30 posters presented by our guests during the breakout poster sessions.

Selected Recordings

Sharonne Hayes, MD - Mayo Clinic, Rochester: Vive la Différence: Sex-Based Cardiovascular Research Saves Lives

Cynthia Kuhn, PhD - Duke University: Sex Differences in Health: How to Stumble Down a Rabbit Hole

Program Booklet

On Feb. 23, 2024, faculty, fellows, postdocs, students and staff interested in women’s health research gathered in the Trent Semans Center Great Hall at Duke University for the Women’s Health & Career Development Symposium. This annual symposium is sponsored by BIRCWH (Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health, a K12 Institutional Career Development Program.

The event featured invited speakers, scholar presentations, a poster showcase, and an interactive “Pitching Your Science” session led by Johnna Frierson. We were pleased to welcome 90 attendees (almost double the number from 2023) representing nine institutions, including Duke, UNC, NC Central, Yale and Wake Forest. There was a broad range of career levels; 28% senior-level; 28% graduate, undergraduate or medical students; and 28% early career faculty. Attendees were from a broad range of departments, including biostatistics, public health, surgery, nursing, community health and social work, illustrating the multidisciplinary nature of women’s health research.

Selected Recordings

Rachel Greenup, MD, MPH – BIRCWH Alumna (2019) Yale School of Medicine: Standing on the Shoulders of (Little) Giants: Academic Success in Health Services Research Through Mentorship & Collaboration

Chad Grotegut, MBA, MD – BIRCWH Alumnus (2012) Wake Forest University:  Mechanisms of Uterine Contractility and the Development of a Physician-Scientist-Administrator

 Agenda

• 12:00 Welcome & Introductions
• 12:10 Invited Presentation
  • Rachel Greenup, MD, MPH – BIRCWH Alumna (2019) Yale School of Medicine: Standing on the Shoulders of (Little) Giants: Academic Success in Health Services Research Through Mentorship & Collaboration
  • Q and A
• 12:40 Scholar Presentations
  • 12:40 Audrey Blewer, PhD, MPH - Sex Disparities in Receipt of Bystander Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
  • 1:00 Binita Chakraborty, PhD - Targeting Estrogen Receptor Signaling in Tumor Associated Myeloid Cells to Enhance Anti-tumor Immunity
• 1:20 Alumni Introductions
• 1:25 Break & Posters
• 1:45 Scholar Presentations
  • 1:45 Tarannum Jaleel, MD, MHSc - Relationship between Hormones and Skin Inflammation: Hidradenitis Suppurativa in Women
  • 2:05 Charity Watkins, PhD - Severe Maternal Morbidity & Racial Bias: A Mixed-Methods Study of the Psychosocial Effects of Pregnancy-related Cardiovascular Disease among Black Women
  • 2:25 Jennifer Plichta, MD, MS - Staging for De Novo Metastatic Breast Cancer: Can Genomic Data Make it Better?
• 2:45 Invited Presentation
  • Chad Grotegut, MBA, MD – BIRCWH Alumnus (2012) Wake Forest University:  Mechanisms of Uterine Contractility and the Development of a Physician-Scientist-Administrator
  • Q and A
• 3:20 Break & Posters
  • Group photo (scholars, alumni, mentors, Advisory Committee)
• 3:45 Interactive Session: Communicating Your Science and Perfecting Your Pitch
  • Johnna Frierson, PhD 
    • Dr. Frierson will facilitate this interactive session. After a brief presentation on the nuts and bolts of the pitch, participants will prep and then practice their pitch in small groups.
• 4:55 Closing Remarks

2022 Symposium (2/18/2022)

• Welcome and Scholar Presentations
  • Andrea Knittel, MD, PhD, FACOG (UNC WRHR)
    
  • Katelyn Holliday, PhD (Duke BIRCWH)
  • Chemtai Mungo, MD, MPH (UNC WRHR)
  • Rebecca Previs, MD (Duke WRHR)
  • Jamila Minga, PhD, CCC-SLP (Duke BIRCWH)
  • Jonas Swartz, MD (Duke WRHR)
• Panel Discussion: Pregnancy as Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria: Ethical and Pragmatic Consequences for Women’s Health Research
• Q&A: Patient and Community Engagement and Retention
• 2022 Symposium Program

• Welcome and Introductions
• Chairs' Perspectives: Avoiding Common Pitfalls in Academic Research Careers Part 1
• Avoiding Common Pitfalls Part 2
• BIRCWH Scholar Presentations
• WRHR Scholar Presentations
• Small Group Breakouts
  • When Things Don't Go as Planned
  • Managing Professional Relationships
  • Work-Life Integration
  • Leading a Research Team
• Scholar Networking

• Programs Represented: UNC and Duke/NCCU BIRCWH
• Theme: K-Scholar Success – What Does it Take to Transition to Independence?
• Date: Friday, Feb. 21, 2020
• Location: Washington Duke Inn, Durham, NC
  
• Agenda
  • BIRCWH Scholar Presentations
  • Networking
  • Featured Speaker: Matthew Pearsall, PhD, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, Building Resilient Teams
  • Panel Discussion: Paths to success, developing resilience and overcoming rejection, and becoming independent
• 2020 Symposium Program

• Programs Represented: UNC and Duke/NCCU BIRCWH
  
• Date: Friday. Feb. 1, 2019
• Location: Rizzo Center, Chapel Hill, NC
• Agenda
  • Career Development: Jeffrey Houpt, MD, Dean Emeritus, UNC School of Medicine, The Tough Stuff: Conflict, Difficult Conversations, and Negotiation
  • Women’s Health: Susan Girdler, PhD, Depression and Cardiovascular Disease in Mid-Life Women: Biopsychosocial Mechanisms of Risk and Protection
  • BIRCWH Alumnus: Kris C. Wood, PhD, The Transition from Scholar to Independence
  • BIRCWH Scholars: Scholar Snapshots
  • Keynote Presentation: Nobel Prize recipient Robert J. Lefkowitz, MD, Tales of a Serendipitous Scientist
• 2019 Symposium Program

• Programs Represented: UNC and Duke/NCCU BIRCWH
  
• Date: Friday, Jan. 6, 2018
• Location: Washington Duke Inn, Durham, NC
• Agenda
  • Duke BIRCWH Alumna: Geeta Swamy, MD
  • Networking
  • UNC BIRCWH Alumna: Stephanie Zerwas, PhD
  • Keynote Speaker: Joan Y. Reede, MD, MS, MPH, MBA, Dean for Diversity and Community Partnership, Harvard University
• 2018 Symposium Program

• Programs Represented: UNC and Duke/NCCU BIRCWH
  
• Date: Friday, Dec. 2, 2016
• Location: Washington Duke Inn, Durham, NC
• Agenda
  • Anthony Viera, MD, Maximizing/Organizing Time for Writing
  • BIRCWH Scholar Presentations
• 2016 Symposium Program