NW Women's Health & Sex/Gender Differences Research Conference
Friday, May 8, 2026, at OHSU Auditorium (Old Library)
The Oregon BIRCWH Program, OHSU Center for Women's Health, and the OHSU Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology are proud to announce the 2026 Northwest Women's Health and Sex/Gender Differences Research Conference at Oregon Health & Science University.
This full-day in-person conference is designed to ignite cross-institution, multidisciplinary research partnerships and collaborations within the Portland area and the greater state of Oregon. Previous conferences have been incredibly successful in developing new partnerships that have progressed to grant proposals, funding, and research. The conference highlights the BIRCWH and WRHR programs and their roles within the OHSU community, but also to gives greater visibility to women’s health and sex and/or gender-based differences research on the OHSU campus.
We are honored to have Yoel Sadovsky, MD, and Mary Heinricher, PhD, joining us as keynote speakers.
Yoel Sadovsky, MD, was program director of the BIRCWH program at the University of Pittsburgh between 2012-2024. He also served as the Scientific and Executive Director of Magee-Womens Research Institute and a Distinguished Professor of OBGYN, and Microbiology and Molecular Genetics between 2007-2024, and was the Elsie Hilliard Hillman Chair of Women's Health Research and Associate Dean, Women’s Health Research and Reproductive Sciences at Pitt. He recently moved to Stanford University, California, where he continues his research work as a Senior Research Scientist and Adjunct Professor in the Dept. of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine.
Dr. Sadovsky’s research integrates molecular, cellular and informatics tools to decipher placental development and adaption to injury, such as oxidative stress and ferroptosis. He also focuses on trophoblastic non-coding RNAs, which are packaged in extracellular vesicles and communicate among the fetal, placental, and maternal compartments.
2026 Agenda
7:45 a.m. – 8:20 a.m. | Registration
8:20 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. | Welcome & Opening Remarks
8:30 a.m. – 9:25 a.m. | Keynote 1: Yoel Sadovsky, PhD
9:30 a.m. – 10:10 a.m. | Presentations from BIRCWH K12 Scholars
10:15 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. | Poster session
11:20 a.m. – 12:10 p.m. | Presentations from BIRCWH & WRHR K12 Scholars
12:10 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Lunch, Poster Session, and Networking
1:05 p.m. - 1:20 p.m. | Presentation by Circle of Giving winner - neuroscience: Deena Walker, PhD
1:20 p.m. - 2:10 p.m. | Presentations from RSDP K12 Scholars
2:20 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. | Presentations from K99/R00 Scholars
3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. | Keynote 2: Mary Heinricher, PhD
4:00 p.m. – 4:05 p.m. | Closing Remarks
4:05 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. | Networking Reception
9:35 a.m. – 9:50 a.m. |
Brooke Shafer, PhD
BIRCWH K12 Scholar, Assistant Professor
OHSU Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences
9:55 a.m. – 10:10 a.m. |
Alexander Dufford, PhD
BIRCWH K12 Scholar, Assistant Professor
OHSU Departments of Psychiatry and Behavior Neuroscience and Center for Mental Health Innovation
11:20 a.m. – 11:35 a.m. |
Erin Foster, MD, PhD
BIRCWH K12 Scholar, Assistant Professor
OHSU Department of Dermatology, School of Medicine
11:37 a.m. – 11:52 a.m. |
Abigail Liberty, MD
Women’s Reproductive Health Research K12 Scholar, Assistant Professor
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine
11:55 a.m. – 12:10 a.m. |
Adam Crosland, MD, MPH
Women’s Reproductive Health Research K12 Scholar, Assistant Professor
OHSU Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine
1:05 PM – 1:20 PM | Regulation of Sex Differences in Alcohol Consumption by Thyroid Hormone in Mice
Thyroid hormone, the main hormone that regulates metabolism, is also implicated in substance and alcohol-use disorder. Dr Walker will present new data implicating a sex-specific role of thyroid hormone signaling specifically in the brain in regulating alcohol drinking in mice.
Deena Walker, PhD
Circle of Giving Winner - Neuroscience, Assistant Professor
Department of Behavioral Neuroscience
1:23 PM – 2:05 PM |
Rahul D’Mello, MD, PhD
Reproductive Scientist Development Program K12 Scholar, Assistant Professor
OHSU Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine
Julia Tasset, PhD
Reproductive Scientist Development Program K12 Scholar, Assistant Professor
Complex family Planning
OHSU Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine
Elizabeth Rubin, MD, MCR
Reproductive Scientist Development Program K12 Scholar, Assistant Professor
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine