Engineering for Women’s Health Conference 2024 Focuses on Interdisciplinary Solutions
Seeking to highlight the need for interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches to women’s health, a group of bioengineering and mechanical engineering PhD students organized the inaugural Engineering for Women’s Health Conference 2024. It focused on the intersection of engineering, biology, and medical approaches to health issues like pregnancy and menopause.
“We realized that there are a lot of people involved in women’s health in the Boston area, but we don’t really have a chance to collaborate,” says Soha Ben Tahar, a PhD mechanical engineering student who helped organize the event.
The student team, advised by Chiara Bellini, associate professor of bioengineering, and Rouzbeh Amini, associate professor of mechanical and industrial engineering, and bioengineering, received a National Institutes of Health grant to fund the conference. They handled all aspects of the event, from selecting topics and speakers, and reviewing submitted papers to engaging with students, faculty, researchers, and industry representatives during the conference.
At the conference, more than 100 attendees heard from experts in engineering, biology, and medical disciplines. The goal was to lay the groundwork for partnerships, research, and advocacy for women.
The students designed the event to comprehensively address health issues and attendees had questions about how biases, racism, and sexism impact women’s health care, says Ana Vargas, a bioengineering PhD student, who was also on the conference planning committee.
The College of Engineering, and Departments of Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering and Diversity and Inclusion, as well as the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center also supported the conference.
Akram Alshawabkeh, University Distinguished George A. Snell Professor of civil and environmental engineering, discussed environmental contamination and adverse pregnancy outcomes based on research from Northeastern’s PROTECT Research Center in Puerto Rico.
Shelly Peyton, chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Tufts University, presented on tissue-inspired synthetic biomaterials to study breast cancer.
Abraham Joy, professor and chair of bioengineering, and Rebecca Carrier, Distinguished Professor of chemical engineering, networked with industry colleagues.
Çağrı Çevrim, a postdoctoral research fellow in stem cell and regenerative biology at Harvard University, shared a new model to study menstruation.
Chiara Bellini, associate professor of bioengineering, participated in a session discussion.
Ryo Takei, PhD student, mechanical and industrial engineering, and conference call for abstracts coordinator, requested new abstracts.