{"id":242435,"date":"2026-03-16T14:29:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T18:29:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=242435"},"modified":"2026-03-17T10:04:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T14:04:22","slug":"womens-health-research-advancing-at-uconn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2026\/03\/womens-health-research-advancing-at-uconn\/","title":{"rendered":"Women\u2019s Health Research Advancing at UConn"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Group on Women in Medicine and Science (GWIMS)<\/a> at UConn School of Medicine hosted it 3rd Annual\u00a0GWIMS Networking Reception and Poster Symposium on Basic Science, Translational, Clinical, and Health Disparities Research that impacts Women\u2019s Health.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.
Dr. Marja Hurley listening to the presentation of student in the UConn Department of Surgery David Russell at the GWIMS women’s research event on March 13, 2026. (Photo by John Atashian)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This year\u2019s third annual event had its largest participation yet of researchers presenting nearly 40 research projects focusing on women\u2019s health. Their scientific posters were displayed on March 13 outside the Academic Rotunda by both female and male researchers from across the institution\u2019s robust research enterprise. For the first time judges from the School of Medicine faculty judged the best poster in each category.<\/p>\n

Dr. Marja Hurley, founding chair of the GWIMS Steering Committee, who serves as the UConn Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor, professor of Medicine and Orthopedic Surgery, and associate dean of the Health Career Opportunity Programs, couldn\u2019t have been prouder of the amazing turnout of researchers for the GWIMS hosted annual event.<\/p>\n

\"Dean
Dean of UConn School of Medicine, Dr. Bruce T. Liang, enjoying learning about the various women’s health research poster findings presented on March 13, 2026 including by Catherine Hastings of the Department of Public Health Sciences. (Photo by John Atashian)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really nice to see that this year we have grown to 40 abstracts furthering our mission here at UConn to advance women\u2019s health,\u201d applauded Hurley. \u201cThis year we also added judging for the first time to recognize individual researchers for their excellence. We have both women and men presenting their latest findings that impact women\u2019s health \u2013 and we really want to applaud everyone\u2019s wonderful efforts and for coming together for enhancing women\u2019s health.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The keynote speaker for the third annual GWIMS women’s health research event was Dr. Kimberly Yonkers. (Photo by John Atashian)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The special visiting keynote speaker for the event was\u00a0NIH-funded physician-scientist Dr. Kimberly Yonkers whose research career has had a substantial impact on the field of mood and substance use disorders in women. <\/em>Her keynote presentation on women\u2019s health focused on her research on pregnant women and substance abuse which remains a significant problem. Yonkers serves UMass Memorial Health and UMass Chan Medical School as the Katz Family Endowed Chair, and professor and chair of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences.<\/p>\n

Some of the members of the GWIMS Steering Committee who served as the annual event\u2019s inaugural judges shared their excitement and difficulty of choosing just one top presenter out of all the excellent posters in each category.<\/p>\n

\"Two
Two of the several poster judges were Beiyan Zhou, Ph.D. and Nilanjana Maulik, Ph.D., FAHA from the GWIMS Steering Committee. (Photo by John Atashian)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis is amazing,\u201d said Nilanjana Maulik, Ph.D., FAHA. \u201cAll the research presentations are very different, and it\u2019s challenging to choose just one basic science\/translational research category winner. All the presentations are honorable mentions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the posters on women\u2019s health are so exciting,\u201d agreed Beiyan Zhou, Ph.D. \u201cFrom reviewing all the abstracts, you can see how female sex-based differences play a critical role.\u201d<\/p>\n

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But just like the other research categories, the Basic Science\/Translational <\/strong>category judges had to choose one winner and the standout was Ph.D. candidate and graduate student of the last four years, Kai Clarke<\/strong>, for her poster presentation #102 on \u201cThe Role and Modulation of the Inflammasome in the Sickle Cell Disease Oral Phenotype<\/em>.\u201d<\/strong> Her co-researchers are Liping Xiao, MD, Ph.D. and Dr. Marja Hurley.<\/p>\n

\"Kai
Kai Clarke being honored as the winner of the best poster in the basic science\/translational research category by Dr. Nilanjana Maulik, Ph.D. (Photo by John Atashian)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cCongrats, and very nice work,\u201d applauded Maulik of Clarke after hearing her scientific findings.<\/p>\n

Clarke has been part of the GWIMS event for the last three years: \u201cI love this event. It\u2019s exciting to see the women\u2019s research event get bigger and bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clarke shared how since the newly available cure gene therapy for sickle cell disease, the painful inherited, abnormally-shaped red blood cell condition, is very expensive, research teams like hers are looking for other alternatives such as testing an already approved FDA-drug to see if it could help sickle cell patients too.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn mice we found using this one antibody can rescue dental pulp from damage,\u201d shared Clarke. The research abstract reports the antibody called FGF23Ab may be a future potential therapy for sickle cell disease-related oral and bone issues.<\/p>\n

Clarke is getting really excited to defend her Ph.D. thesis in the coming weeks to graduate from UConn School of Medicine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m almost done!\u201d shares Clarke who is grateful to Dr. Marja Hurley for her strong mentorship and the opportunity to gain research experience in her lab to help advance sickle cell research forward.<\/p>\n

\"Lead
Lead author of the best clinical research poster is Mikhalya Brown, a medical student at the Frank H. Netter School of Medicine of Quinnipiac University.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The winner of the Clinical <\/strong>research category was poster #202 presented by first author Mikhalya\u00a0Brown<\/strong> entitled \u201cIt\u2019s Best to Test in Hospital- Improved Testing Rate with Immediate Postpartum Diabetes Testing in Patients with Gestational Diabetes in a Community-Academic Medical Center.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> Brown is a medical student at the Frank H. Netter School of Medicine of Quinnipiac University. Co-researchers are Nicole Barreto, MD, Dorothy Wakefield, MS, PStat, Rebecca Crowell, Ph.D., and Veronica Maria Pimentel, MD, MS.<\/p>\n

The study authors report that immediate postpartum diabetes testing achieves a near fivefold higher testing rate than traditional testing 4 \u2013 12 weeks postpartum. They stress that hospital systems should consider implementing this practice change to improve testing rates and postpartum care of patients with gestational diabetes.<\/p>\n

\"Resident
Resident Dr. Charissa Joy Okang represented the winning research team awarded for the best poster in the clinical category by Dr. Marja Hurley. (Photo by John Atashian)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Winning
Winning poster in the Health Disparities research category by first author Marina DiPiazza, medical student in UConn\u2019s Class of 2028. (Photo by John Atashian)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The winner of the Health Disparities <\/strong>research category was #306 presented by first author Marina DiPiazza, <\/strong>medical student in UConn\u2019s Class of 2028, entitled\u00a0\u201cPharmacy-Based Contraceptive Access in Connecticut: A Geospatial Analysis Using the Social Vulnerability Index.\u201d <\/em><\/strong>Co-authors include Simone Buck, Shayna Cunningham, Emil Coman, Andrea Contreras, and Neena Qasba of UConn School of Medicine.<\/p>\n

\"On
On the right is winner of the Health Disparities poster category Marina DiPiazza, medical student in UConn\u2019s Class of 2028.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The study authors findings from their mystery caller study of all pharmacies in Connecticut show significant gaps in implementing state reproductive health policies as less than 10 percent of pharmacies provided consistent availability of over-the-counter birth control and emergency contraceptives.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.
Founding chair of the GWIMS Steering Committee Dr. Marja Hurley honoring keynote speaker Dr. Kimberly Yonkers on March 13, 2026. (Photo by John <\/em>Atashian)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thank you to all the School of Medicine faculty judges and congratulations to all the 40 poster presenters and research teams involved. Also, congrats to the biggest winner of the event \u2013 the advancement of women\u2019s health!<\/p>\n

\"UConn
UConn School of Medicine Dr. Kristyn Zajac, Nilanjana Maulik, Ph.D., Dean Dr. Bruce T. Liang, and founding chair of the GWIMS Steering Committee Dr. Marja Hurley with visiting keynote speaker Dr. Kimberly Yonkers. (Photo by John <\/em>Atashian)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

40 research abstracts presented at 3rd annual women\u2019s health-focused research symposium of The Group on Women in Medicine and Science of the UConn School of Medicine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":242471,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1715,2076,1868,1875,2233,2295],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1873],"class_list":["post-242435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-impact","category-research","category-meds","category-grad-school","category-university-news","category-womens-health"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-07 04:42:25","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242435"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":242521,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242435\/revisions\/242521"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/242471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242435"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=242435"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=242435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}