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S.Sumner Bio
Welcome!
The 2026 National Conference on Women’s Health is hosted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women’s Health.
Get ready to explore breakthroughs in research, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of health conditions that affect women across the lifespan. Learn about opportunities to bridge gaps between evidence and implementation and drive cross-sector innovation to modernize patient care and promote better health.
Registration for this event is now closed. Onsite registration will not be available.
If you are registered for the conference and are a member of the media you are required to request media credentials by Tuesday, March 10 at 3 PM. Email requests to media.ncwh@hhs.gov with your full name, phone number, and ID information.
Event Dates
Event Location
Event Venue
Plan Your Visit
The HHS National Conference on Women’s Health is being held at the historic Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. This iconic hotel offers a perfect blend of historic elegance and modern convenience. The hotel's prime location near the National Mall and other major attractions offers ample opportunities for exploration and enjoyment beyond the conference.
For your convenience, a block of discounted hotel rooms at the Omni Shoreham has been secured for conference attendees. Rates are available for a limited time and won't last long!
To make your hotel reservation, use the link below or call Omni Reservations at 1-800-THE-OMNI and refer to NCWH2026.
Meet Our Speakers - Hidden for now. Sample Style
Asima Ahmad, MD, MPH, FACOG, DABOM
Ann Allen
Candace Badgett, PhD
Piraye Beim, PhD
Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD
Esther Blum, MS, RD
Shira Boehler, MBA
Tammy Born Huizenga, DO
Roberta Brinton, PhD
Nancy Brown
Stephanie Carlton
ADM Brian Christine, MD
Marisa Clifton, MD
Eboni Cornish, MD
Chris Curry, MD, PhD
Ella Davar, RD, CDN
Laura Delano
Bridget K. Devoy, JD, MSc
Marguerite Duane, MD, MHA
Suzanne Fenske, MD, FACOG
Tess Ferm
Dorothy Fink, MD
Linda Griffith, PhD
Stephanie Haridopolos, MD, DABFM
Kim Hartwig, MD
Susan Heeren Malzoni
Sarah Hill, PhD
Kristen Honey, PhD, PMP
Suchitra Hourigan, MD
Alicia Jackson, PhD
Alexis Joel
Deborah Kilday, MSN, RN
Nicole Kleinstreuer, PhD
Chris Klomp, MBA
Angela Lanning
Lynese Lawson, DO, ABAARM
Barbara Levy, MD, FACOG
Marty Makary, MD, MPH
Roxy Manning
Chris Mashburn
Lindsey Meehleis, LM, CPM
Allison Mignone, MBA
Heidi Overton, MD, PhD
Amy Proal, PhD
Rachel Rubin, MD
Kate Ryder, MSc
Andrea Salcedo, DO, MPH, FACOG
Tamer Seckin, MD, FACOG
Natalie Shaw, MD, MMSc
Ann Sheehy, MD, MS
Director of the Office of Planning, Analysis and Evaluation for the Health, Health Resources and Services Administration
Angela Stanton King
Emily Stein
Susan Sumner, PhD
Michal Tal, PhD
Ellen Vora, MD, ABIHM
Kyle Walsh, PhD
Olivia Walton, MSc
Vonda Wright, MD, MS
Allyson Zucker, MSc
Schedule at a Glance
Wednesday
03/11/2026 01:00 PM
Registration and Check-in
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Registration and Check-In
03/11/2026 04:00 PM
Doors Open - Welcome Reception, Posters and Fireside Chat
03/11/2026 05:30 PM
Beyond the Black Box Warning: The Critical Role of Estrogen in Women’s Urological Health with Marisa Clifton, MD and Rachel Rubin, MD
Marisa Clifton, MD
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Marisa Clifton, MD
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Dr. Marisa Clifton is Associate Professor of Urology at Johns Hopkins and Chief Medical Officer of Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center; she’s a fellowship-trained urologist specializing in women’s health, she is a national leader in medical education, quality, and patient safety.
Rachel Rubin, MD
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Rachel Rubin, MD
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Dr. Rachel Rubin is a board-certified urologist and fellowship-trained sexual medicine specialist, She is an assistant clinical professor at Georgetown University and a national leader in advancing women’s sexual health research and policy.
03/11/2026 06:00 PM
Fireside Chat with Stephanie Carlton, Deputy Administrator and Chief of Staff of CMS, and Heidi Overton, MD, PhD, Deputy Assistant to the President, White House Domestic Policy Council
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Doors at 4pm. Welcome reception from 430 pm to 630 pm. There will be a Fireside chat with Stephanie Carlton, Deputy Administrator and Chief of Staff of CMS, and Heidi Overton, Deputy Assistant to the President, White House Domestic Policy Council.
Stephanie Carlton
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Stephanie Carlton
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Stephanie Carlton, appointed by President Trump to be CMS Deputy Administrator and Chief of Staff, is a health care leader with unique experience across the dimensions of the U.S. health care economy—business, policy, higher education, and clinical. As Acting CMS Administrator until Dr. Mehmet Oz was confirmed by the Senate, Stephanie led the Agency through the early days of working with DOGE, implementing Executive Orders, and running the $1.7T organization. When a Partner at McKinsey & Company, Carlton was a leader in McKinsey's SHaPE Practice with a deep focus on innovation and strategy and led McKinsey’s Center for US Health System Reform. She also co-founded a place-based transformation with 20 community leaders in Texas to improve holistic health outcomes. Prior to McKinsey, she led Medicare Advantage and Medicaid issues on the US Senate Finance Committee (Republican staff) and worked as a labor & delivery nurse at Georgetown University Hospital. Carlton has guest lectured at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School, served as a fall 2022 resident fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, and was on the business school faculty at the University of Texas at Austin. She has served on the boards of the Health Care Cost Institute, Ignite Health Foundation, and the University of Texas McCombs Alumni Association.
Heidi Overton, MD, PhD
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Heidi Overton, MD, PhD
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Dr. Heidi Overton serves as Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy at the White House Domestic Policy Council. She is a board-certified in Public Health and General Preventive Medicine and holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Investigation. Dr. Overton previously worked at the America First Policy Institute and served as Chief Policy Officer and Vice Chair of the Center for a Healthy America. She was a White House Fellow in 2019-2020 in both the White House Office of American Innovation and the Domestic Policy Council. Previously, Overton was a general surgery resident at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a physician advocate for price and quality transparency in healthcare through Restoring Medicine. During medical school, Overton was appointed by Governor Susana Martinez to serve on the University of New Mexico (UNM) Board of Regents, which included fiduciary and full-voting responsibilities for all business and clinical operations of the university and health system. Overton graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Health, Medicine, and Human Values from UNM’s Combined BA/MD Program, received her medical degree from the UNM School of Medicine, and obtained her Ph.D. in Clinical Investigation from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Thursday
03/12/2026 07:00 AM
Registration and Check-In
03/12/2026 09:00 AM
Opening Remarks
03/12/2026 09:15 AM
Session 1: Lyme Disease and Autoimmune Conditions in Women: Making the Invisible Visible
Eboni Cornish, MD
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Eboni Cornish, MD
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Dr. Eboni Cornish, MD, is a family medicine and functional medicine physician and Associate Medical Director at Amen Clinics. Her work focuses on complex chronic illness and disorders affecting brain health, with particular attention to neuroimmune mechanisms that contribute to neurological, psychiatric, and systemic symptoms. She applies the Amen Clinics functional SPECT imaging paradigm to evaluate patterns of regional cerebral blood flow, adding physiologic context to clinical assessment and helping guide more individualized care.Dr. Cornish completed training at Brown University, Georgetown University Family Medicine Residency, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Her clinical approach integrates functional medicine, advanced biomarker testing, and systems-based evaluation to better characterize multisystem illness in patients whose presentations are often medically complex and diagnostically challenging.Her areas of interest include chronic infections, environmental toxicity, autoimmune disease, women’s hormonal health, and complex neuropsychiatric presentations, among other conditions. She is particularly interested in how immune dysregulation, toxic exposures, endocrine shifts, and inflammatory burden interact to influence cognition, mood, behavior, and overall functioning.Dr. Cornish serves as President-Elect of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS), where she supports physician education, scientific exchange, and broader awareness of conditions that require more nuanced, interdisciplinary care. She is also a national speaker who regularly contributes to professional education on emerging clinical frameworks in brain health, precision diagnostics, and complex chronic disease. Her work emphasizes rigorous clinical reasoning, integration of objective data, and thoughtful translation of evolving evidence into patient-centered strategies for assessment, risk stratification, and longitudinal treatment planning.
Stephanie Haridopolos, MD, DABFM
Moderator
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Stephanie Haridopolos, MD, DABFM
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Dr. Stephanie Haridopolos is a distinguished board-certified family medicine physician who completed her residency training at Albany Medical Center. She is a medical writer, philanthropist, and public health advocate. She currently serves as Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor in the Office of the Surgeon General, where she provides strategic guidance and leadership on public health initiatives aimed at improving the health of the American people. With over 20 years of medical experience, Dr. Haridopolos is a family physician focused on preventative and primary care, serving as a medical home for her patients to ensure comprehensive continuity of care. She has dedicated her life's work to empowering patients with knowledge to live a healthier lifestyle.Her dedication to public health was recognized when she was honored as Florida’s Outstanding Woman in Public Health by the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health. This accolade highlighted her leadership as Chair of the Board of Directors for Florida Healthy Kids Corporation, which offers income-based healthcare coverage for children in Florida.Dr. Haridopolos led a successful effort to have the Florida legislature increase eligibility for subsidized coverage under the federal poverty level for children in Florida KidCare. Signed into law, House Bill 121 established a glidepath for families by allowing them to keep subsidized coverage as they earn more, enabling the pursuit of financial stability without losing government assistance. This measure underscores Dr. Haridopolos's dedication to making a difference for families and children. She continues to focus on improving healthcare access for children on a national scale as part of her role in the Office of the Surgeon General.Her work extends beyond direct patient care as she has fought to advocate for her patients and to enact legislation that puts patients first. Dr. Haridopolos has had a significant impact on healthcare policy, particularly in expanding access to affordable healthcare for children.Dr. Haridopolos also played a pivotal role in addressing the opioid epidemic in Florida. She supported the enactment of Florida's Pill Mill law, which imposed stricter regulations on pain management clinics to reduce the number of "pill mills" that were contributing to the opioid crisis. This legislation included mandatory registration with the state department of health, physician ownership requirements, and tightened prescribing and dispensing guidelines. Dr. Haridopolos has contributed her expertise to several high-profile commissions addressing critical public health issues. She has served on the Florida Department of Health’s Tobacco Advisory Council, the Statewide Task Force on Prescription Drug Abuse and Newborns, and the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence Foundation. In 2017, she was appointed by Governor Rick Scott to serve on the Florida Board of Medicine where she served as chair of both Rules and Legislation, and Probation committees. She also participated in the South Probable Cause Panel. Additionally, she is a member of both the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Florida Academy of Family Physicians.Dr. Haridopolos holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Stetson University and a medical degree from the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine completing her medical school elective/selective courses in London, England.
Kristen Honey, PhD, PMP
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Kristen Honey, PhD, PMP
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Dr. Kristen Honey serves as the HHS Chief Data Officer and LymeX Program Manager within ASTP/ONC at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). She leads HHS public-private partnerships, including the LymeX Innovation Accelerator, advancing patient-centered innovation in Lyme disease through open science, cross-sector collaboration, and emerging technologies. Under her leadership, HHS partnerships connect government, industry, academia, foundations, and patient communities to accelerate diagnostic innovation, strengthen the evidence base, and improve care pathways for complex chronic conditions and other national health priorities.Prior to HHS, Dr. Honey served in the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), advising senior leadership on open data, technology policy, and cross-agency innovation. She began her federal service as an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy, working at the intersection of science and public policy. With expertise in complex adaptive systems and a passion for interdisciplinary problem-solving, she thrives on “wicked problems,” including chronic, multi-system conditions such as Lyme disease, Long COVID, and ME/CFS. She believes open, reproducible science and strategic partnerships move fields forward. Where controversy exists, she believes we need more data. Dr. Honey earned her Ph.D. from Stanford University in the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER), specializing in complex adaptive systems, biology, and economics, with a Ph.D. minor in Civil and Environmental Engineering. She also holds an M.A. from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a B.A. with Honors from Stanford University. A product of Portland, Maine public schools and the small town of Long Island in Casco Bay, Maine, she brings a lifelong belief that durable solutions are built of, by, and for the communities we serve.
Amy Proal, PhD
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Amy Proal, PhD
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Dr. Proal is a microbiologist and co-founder/CEO of PolyBio Research Foundation - a non-profit studying how viral, bacterial, and fungal infections contribute to human health and disease. This includes work on how infections and tissue microbiome activity impacts endometriosis and other conditions that impact women. Proal conceptualizes and coordinates large-scale research projects among scientific teams studying infection-associated chronic illnesses such as Long COVID, ME/CFS - which both disproportionally affect women - and chronic tick-borne/vector-borne illness. In that capacity she directs PolyBio’s Long COVID Research Consortium (LCRC): a global scientific collaboration to rapidly study and treat Long COVID. Under her leadership, LCRC has raised more than $45 million to drive over 50 Long COVID projects and clinical trials. Dr. Proal also serves as Scientific Director of the Mount Sinai Cohen Center for Recovery from Complex Chronic Illness: a center innovating care for patients with infection-associated chronic disease. She holds a Bachelor of Science in biology from Georgetown University and a PhD in microbiology from Murdoch University in Australia.
Michal Tal, PhD
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Michal Tal, PhD
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Michal Caspi Tal (Mikki), is an immunoengineer, and a principal scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Dr. Tal leads the Tal Research Group within the department of Biological Engineering and also serves as the associate scientific director of the Center for Gynepathology Research at MIT. From tick-borne disease to COVID, there are many similarities across the infection-associated chronic illnesses and important sex differences in the immune response to infection which could impact risk for developing chronic illness. Michal is trying to understand why not everyone can just “bounce back” from an infectious disease. She’s combining preclinical and clinical investigation to map distinct illness trajectories and to examine how sex, hormones, and age differences impact these trajectories and disease outcomes. Dr. Tal is running the largest clinical study at MIT, MAESTRO, comparing and contrasting the responses in people suffering from chronic Lyme and Long COVID with comprehensive deeply multi-modal assessments aimed at transforming assessments that are currently subjective into objective informative diagnostics that can point to targeted therapeutics. These involve developing informative metrics for measuring “brain fog”, inflammation, blood flow, barrier integrity, metabolic function, and other key disease determinants. This is complimented to mechanistic research in the mouse model of Lyme disease. Our goal is to replace subjective uncertainty with objective data, empowering patients with a deeper understanding of their own biology and providing scientists and clinicians with a blueprint for deconstructing complex illnesses, identifying mechanism-based endotypes, and accelerating the discovery of targeted, next-generation therapeutics. https://talresearchgroup.mit.edu/
03/12/2026 09:50 AM
Remarks by Admiral Brian Christine
ADM Brian Christine, MD
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ADM Brian Christine, MD
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Admiral Brian Christine serves as the 18th Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In this role, he provides leadership on the nation’s public health priorities, including chronic disease prevention and efforts to strengthen the nation’s overall health.ADM Christine also leads the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, one of the nation’s eight uniformed services, composed of more than 5,000 public health professionals dedicated to protecting, promoting, and advancing the health and safety of the nation.President Donald Trump nominated ADM Christine for this position, and he was subsequently confirmed by the U.S. Senate.As Assistant Secretary for Health, ADM Christine is focused on restoring trust in public health, radical transparency, and tackling the epidemic. His leadership emphasizes putting patients first, strengthening the integrity of public health institutions, and ensuring that every American has the opportunity to live a healthier, more fulfilling life. ADM Christine earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from Emory University and completed his residency in Urology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. An internationally recognized leader in Men’s Health, he established a practice regarded as a global Center of Excellence, treating patients from across the United States and abroad.ADM Christine has published peer-reviewed research, lectured extensively, and trained surgeons around the world. He is a member of several leading professional organizations, including the American Urologic Association, the Sexual Medicine Society of North America, the International Society for Sexual Medicine, and the International Continence Society.As a “Mainstreet Physician” treating the men,
03/12/2026 10:00 AM
Session 2: Microbiome, Inflammation, and Women's Health
Tammy Born Huizenga, DO
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Tammy Born Huizenga, DO
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Tammy Born Huizenga, D.O., is a pioneer in integrative medicine with more than 38 years of experience. Dr. Huizenga stewarded a nationally recognized model for root-cause care, well before “functional medicine” became a household term. She cofounded the Born Clinic in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she stewarded her clinic to become one of the nation’s largest functional medicine clinics. Dr. Huizenga is currently a Senior Advisor within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at the US Department of Health and Human Services. Her work reflects a rare combination of innovation, service, and steadfast patient advocacy.Dr. Huizenga graduated from Calvin College and Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine and is board-certified in Family Practice.
Suchitra Hourigan, MD
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Suchitra Hourigan, MD
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Dr. Suchitra (Suchi) Hourigan was born in the United Kingdom and earned her medical degree from the University of Oxford. She is board-certified in both pediatrics and pediatric gastroenterology, having completed her residency and fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital. In 2021, she joined the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), NIH, as a Lasker Clinical Research Scholar, where she now leads the Clinical Microbiome Unit.Her laboratory focuses on developing and testing pregnancy and early-life microbiome interventions aimed at preventing chronic inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases. While animal and observational studies have established that dysbiosis—imbalances in the gut microbiome—is linked to numerous chronic conditions, Dr. Hourigan’s research takes the field beyond descriptive work by implementing first-in-human clinical trials. Her integrative approach combines objective assessments of health outcomes with in-depth mechanistic studies, allowing her team to explore how microbiome shifts influence host physiology and immunity.A central focus of her work is early life, a critical window for gut microbiome development and immune regulation. She is leading the first randomized, placebo-controlled trial of vaginal seeding in infants born by cesarean section, a group at heightened risk for obesity, atopy, and other inflammatory conditions. Through these pioneering efforts, Dr. Hourigan is advancing translational science that not only tests microbiome-based therapies but also illuminates the mechanisms driving host–microbiota interactions in human health.
Marty Makary, MD, MPH
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Marty Makary, MD, MPH
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Dr. Marty Makary was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 25, 2025 in a bipartisan vote to be the 27th Commissioner of the FDA.He previously worked as a surgical oncologist as a researcher, professor and chief of Islet Transplant Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he also served jointly on the faculty of the School of Public Health and Business Schools.He has published more than 350 scientific peer-reviewed articles and three New York Times bestselling books, including most recently, “Blind Spots”.He is the recipient of the Nobility in Science award from the National Pancreas Foundation and has been elected the National Academy of Medicine.
03/12/2026 10:45 AM
Session 3: Environmental Exposures and Chronic Disease in Women
Natalie Shaw, MD, MMSc
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Natalie Shaw, MD, MMSc
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Dr. Natalie Shaw is a Lasker Clinical Research Scholar, Senior Investigator, and Head of the Pediatric Neuroendocrinology Group in the Clinical Research Branch at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS/NIH) in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Dr. Shaw earned her medical degree from the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and a Masters in Medical Sciences from Harvard Medical School. She completed her Pediatrics residency at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, a Pediatric Endocrinology fellowship at Boston Children's Hospital, and a clinical research fellowship in the Reproductive Endocrine Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. She was an attending physician at Boston Children’s Hospital until she was recruited to the NIH in 2015. As a Pediatric Endocrinologist, she studies the environmental and genetic control of pubertal development. She conducts studies in healthy pediatric volunteers that are complemented by genotypic and deep phenotypic studies in patients with rare, syndromic forms of hypogonadism as well as studies in patient-derived neural stem cells. Her studies in healthy pubertal girls have revealed that menstrual irregularity in young adolescents is due to immaturity at all levels of the reproductive axis – the hypothalamus, pituitary, and ovary – and her ongoing studies in this population have demonstrated that there are several distinct developmental trajectories as girls mature from anovulatory to ovulatory menstrual cycles. She has also discovered environmental compounds that may contribute to earlier puberty in girls by conducting high-throughput screens in human cell lines in collaboration with colleagues at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS/NIH).
Susan Sumner, PhD
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Susan Sumner, PhD
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Susan Sumner, PhD is a Professor in the Departments of Nutrition and Pharmacology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), and director of the Metabolomics and Exposome Laboratory at UNC’s Nutrition Research Institute. Dr. Sumner’s research in precision health is shaping the future of providing nutritional guidance at the individual and community levels. Her laboratory analyzes biospecimens using advanced technology and complex modelling to reveal how nutritional status, dietary intake, environmental exposures, behaviors, physical activity, lifestyle factors, and genetics influence health and wellness. Dr. Sumner contributes to advancing Precision Health in fields of pregnancy complications, birth and early childhood outcomes, infertility, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and addiction.Dr. Sumner serves as the principal investigator (PI) of the NCI/NIH Common Fund Metabolomics and Clinical Assay Center (MCAC) for the Nutrition for Precision Health (NPH) study - powered by the All of Us program. She also serves as a PI in the NIEHS funded Human Health Exposure Analysis Resource (HHEAR) program, providing metabolism and exposure related findings to the Environmental influences on Childhood Outcomes (ECHO) program, and to the Chronic kidney diseases of UnceRtain Etiology (CURE) consortium.Dr. Sumner earned a PhD in physical chemistry from North Carolina State University in 1986 and conducted a postdoctoral fellowship at the NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Kyle Walsh, PhD
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Kyle Walsh, PhD
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Dr. Kyle Walsh, Ph.D., is Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), the world’s premier biomedical research organization focused on environmental health. In addition to leading this NIH institute, he also directs the U.S. National Toxicology Program. In these roles, Dr. Walsh oversees a nearly $1 billion annual budget to advance a broad portfolio of research into how environmental factors influence human health and disease.Prior to assuming these leadership roles at NIEHS, Dr. Walsh led a pioneering research program at Duke University, studying how genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors interact to influence brain health, cancer risk, and immune function. At Duke, he served as Associate Professor of Neurosurgery, Pathology, and Pediatrics, and as Director of the Division of Neuro-epidemiology and Co-Leader of the Duke Cancer Institute’s Neuro-Oncology Research Program.Dr. Walsh holds bachelor’s degrees in both molecular genetics and anthropology from The Ohio State University and earned his Ph.D. in chronic disease epidemiology from the Yale School of Public Health. He completed postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco, where his wife trained as a pediatric dermatologist. They currently reside in North Carolina with their three daughters, ages 4, 6 and 9.
03/12/2026 11:30 AM
Introductory Remarks by Susan Malzoni
Susan Heeren Malzoni
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Susan Heeren Malzoni
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Susan is the Founder and CEO of Vitamyna, a wellness company dedicated to delivering personalized supplement and healthy lifestyle solutions. As a Certified Naturopathic Practitioner, she champions preventative care and holistic health, empowering clients to take a proactive approach to long-term well-being.With a background in building and leading a global advertising agency, Susan has helped innovative brands in emerging technologies and longevity gain international visibility and impact. She is also the author of several e-books, including Starting Your Health Journey: A Beginner’s Guide, where she offers clear, practical guidance for those taking their first steps toward a healthier, more balanced life.Apart from her principal work in health and wellness, Susan is an animal advocate. In March 2025, Susan served as Chair of a high-profile fundraising gala for Big Dog Ranch Rescue at Mar-a-Lago, raising an extraordinary $4.3 million to support the rescue, rehabilitation, and rehoming of homeless dogs. The event brought together distinguished guests, including President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, and was widely praised for seamlessly blending impactful philanthropy with elevated fashion and elegance. Driven by a deep commitment to animal welfare, Susan’s broader mission is to help advance legislation that strengthens protections for animals and works to end cruelty in the United States and around the world.
03/12/2026 11:35 AM
Session 4: Changing the Future of Women's Health
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Introductory Remarks by Susan Malzoni
Nancy Brown
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Nancy Brown
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Nancy Brown is Chief Executive Officer of the American Heart Association. Under her leadership as CEO since 2008, the Association has become a global authority on cardiovascular and brain health, generating more than $1 billion annually to power its mission: to be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives.Together with 35 million volunteers, supporters and staff across 100 countries, Nancy champions health and hope for everyone, everywhere. The Association funds groundbreaking research, advocates for the public’s health and provides critical resources to save and improve lives affected by cardiovascular disease and stroke.In 2025, Nancy was named one of TIME’s most influential people in global health and received the prestigious World Heart Federation Lifetime Achievement Award, honoring her impact in cardiovascular and brain health. Nancy’s commitment to innovation also earned her a place on CNBC’s Changemakers list of Women Transforming Business, celebrating her role in shaping the future of health and business.
03/12/2026 12:00 PM
Lunch
03/12/2026 01:15 PM
Introductory Remarks by Ann Allen
Ann Allen
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Ann Allen
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Ann serves as the Amazon Health Services national leader for existing and future Health System Partner success, ensuring partnership alignment, initiative spread, and collaboration across pan-Amazon efforts within Amazon Health Services. Prior to this, Ann was the Chief Operating Officer leading the One Medical national care delivery operations across in-person primary care, virtual care, and administrative services. Ann brings an extensive understanding of healthcare operations and performance improvement with over 20 years of experience. Prior to joining One Medical, Ann was the Chief Operating Officer at Kaiser Permanente Washington where she led all healthcare operations and strategy across the $5.0B health plan. Before Kaiser Permanente Washington, Ann served as the President and Chief Operating Officer of Bon Secours Medical Group in South Carolina, one of the nation’s 20 largest healthcare systems. Ann also spent a decade with Kaiser Permanente Northern California in various executive roles. Ann received a Bachelor’s of Community Health from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and a Master’s of Healthcare Administration from Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine.
03/12/2026 01:20 PM
Session 5: Accelerating Transformative Women's Health Research
Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD
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Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD
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Jayanta "Jay" Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D., took the helm as 18th director of the National Institutes of Health, the nation’s medical research agency, on April 1, 2025. President Trump nominated Dr. Bhattacharya for the position on Nov. 26, 2024, and the U.S. Senate confirmed him on March 25, 2025.Dr. Bhattacharya, a renowned doctor, researcher, health economist, previously held a tenured professorship in the medical school at Stanford University in California. His research focused on population aging and chronic disease, particularly on the health and well-being of vulnerable populations. He has published over 170 research papers in peer-reviewed journals in medicine, epidemiology, health policy, economics, statistics, science policy, and public health, as well as a leading textbook on health economics.During the pandemic, Dr. Bhattacharya coauthored the Great Barrington Declaration, which called for opening schools and lifting lockdowns while better protecting older populations who were most vulnerable to the disease.Dr. Bhattacharya held numerous additional appointments at Stanford University, including courtesy appointments at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, the Stanford Freeman Spogli Institute and Stanford’s Hoover Institution, and Economics department. Previously, he conducted research at the National Bureau of Economic Research and the SPHERE Institute, a policy research firm. Before joining Stanford, he was an economist at the RAND Corporation and worked as a visiting economics professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.Dr. Bhattacharya is a longtime NIH grantee and has served as a standing member of multiple NIH review committees. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from Stanford University. He then completed medical school and earned a Ph.D. in economics also from Stanford University.
Nicole Kleinstreuer, PhD
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Nicole Kleinstreuer, PhD
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Nicole C. Kleinstreuer, Ph.D., is the NIH Deputy Director for Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives. In this role, she leads the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI) within the NIH Office of the Director, which oversees trans-NIH programmatic research and strategic policy initiatives, including the NIH Common Fund and offices focused on women’s health, data science, AIDS research, disease prevention, behavioral and social sciences, dietary supplements, and tribal health, among others.Dr. Kleinstreuer is internationally recognized for her leadership in developing innovative, human-relevant research strategies that advance public health protection. Prior to her current position, she served as Director of the National Toxicology Program Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods (NICEATM), within the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). She also served as Executive Director of the congressionally mandated Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) and as the US National Co-Coordinator for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Test Guidelines Programme. In these roles, she led interagency and international efforts to promote new approach methodologies (NAMs), reduce animal testing, and integrate computational modeling, artificial intelligence, and systems toxicology into regulatory science. Her work spans translational bioinformatics, predictive modeling, and quantitative risk assessment. She has authored over 150 peer-reviewed publications and received numerous honors, including the 2019 Society of Toxicology Achievement Award and the 2025 Enhancement of Animal Welfare Award, as well as multiple NIH Director’s and NIEHS Merit Awards.
03/12/2026 02:00 PM
Session 6: Women and Alzheimer's Disease: Illuminating Pathways of Risk Prevention & Cure
Roberta Brinton, PhD
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Roberta Brinton, PhD
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Dr. Roberta Diaz Brinton leads the Center for Innovation in Brain Science at the University of Arizona where she is Regents Professor of Pharmacology, Neuroscience, and Neurology.She earned her Ph.D. as an NIH Predoctoral Fellow at the University of Arizona and conducted her NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship at Rockefeller University.Her NIH/ NIA research spans discovery, translational, biomedical data science and clinical trials. Through her NIA clinical trials, Brinton is pioneering the first regenerative therapeutic for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. She is also conducting clinical trials of an estrogen receptor-beta targeted nutraceutical for menopausal symptoms to promote brain health while sustaining breast health to prevent Alzheimer’s in those at greatest risk, women.She has authored over 300 scientific publications which collectively have an H-index of 97 and an i10-index of 240. She holds multiple patents, is a member of the National Academy of Inventors and has founded two biotech startups, most recently, NeuTherapeutics.Throughout her career, she has mentored over 50 pre- and postdoctoral fellows. She created and led the USC Science, Technology and Research (STAR) program that provided discovery science education in inner city Los Angeles. She currently leads NIH / NIA undergraduate and graduate research training grants.Among her many awards, Dr. Brinton received the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation Goodes Prize for her Alzheimer’s research and regenerative therapeutic development and the Presidential Citizen’s Medal for her STEM education endeavors.
03/12/2026 02:30 PM
Session 7: Addressing Chronic Conditions in the Evaluation of Infertility
Asima Ahmad, MD, MPH, FACOG, DABOM
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Asima Ahmad, MD, MPH, FACOG, DABOM
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Asima Ahmad, MD, MPH, FACOG, DABOM, is the Co-founder and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Carrot, the leading global fertility, family-building, and lifelong hormonal healthcare platform providing care for everyone, everywhere. As Carrot’s CMO, Dr. Ahmad leads clinical strategy and oversees the company’s expansive network of in-person providers and virtual experts, including reproductive endocrinologists, urologists, adoption experts, mental health specialists, OB/GYNs, doulas, and midwives.In addition to her role at Carrot, Dr. Ahmad is a practicing reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist. Dr. Ahmad is triple board-certified in reproductive endocrinology and infertility, obstetrics and gynecology, and obesity medicine. She earned a combined medical and public health degree from the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She completed her residency in OB/GYN at Yale-New Haven Hospital and her fellowship training in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the University of California, San Francisco. She has worked alongside and received mentorship from former ASRM presidents, Dr. Hugh Taylor and Dr. Marcelle Cedars. Dr. Ahmad’s work has been published extensively in academic literature and internationally on a wide range of topics related to infertility, reproductive and hormonal health, gynecologic malignancies, and patient safety.Dr. Ahmad has held leadership roles on the Access to Care Special Interest Group of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), most recently as the Chair and previously as the Vice-Chair. She has also helped in healthcare delivery and optimization in outcomes
Marguerite Duane, MD, MHA
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Marguerite Duane, MD, MHA
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Dr. Marguerite Duane, a board-certified family physician, is co-founder and Executive Director of FACTS about Fertility, an organization dedicated to educating medical professionals and students about the scientific evidence supporting fertility awareness-based methods (FABMs) and their role in cooperative hormonal and restorative medical care. She also serves as the Director of the Center of Fertility Awareness Education and Research at Duquesne University and as an Adjunct Associate Professor at Georgetown. Additionally, she has served on the board of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and the Family Medicine Education Consortium (FMEC). Dr. Duane cares for patients via her own direct primary care house-calls based practice, MD for Life.Dr. Duane received her M.D. degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and completed her Family Medicine residency at Lancaster General Hospital in Pennsylvania. She received a Bachelor of Science with Honors and a Master of Health Administration degree from Cornell University. In May 2022, Dr. Duane completed a primary care research fellowship at the University of Utah earning a Master of Science in Public Health.
Alexis Joel
Moderator
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Alexis Joel
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Alexis Roderick Joel is Co-Chair of The Joel Foundation, along with her husband, Billy Joel, established to invest in transformative programs with a focus on music education and public health. Through her leadership and advocacy, the Foundation has prioritized strategic partnerships to create lasting community impact.Alexis serves as Chair of Advocacy & Strategic Partnerships for Endometriosis Foundation of America. As a tireless advocate that has struggled with the disease, Alexis is committed to creating more awareness and increased investments in research and treatment options.She has championed The Joel Foundation’s ongoing support of Long Island High School for the Arts (LIHSA), helping to revitalize and sustain the region’s only public high school dedicated to the performing and visual arts.Born and raised on Long Island, Alexis attended Stony Brook University with undergraduate study in political science with a focus on international relations and minor in Latin American studies. She worked for numerous investment firms including Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch within the international, legal and Risk departments. Alexis is a devoted wife and mother to their two young daughters.
Andrea Salcedo, DO, MPH, FACOG
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Andrea Salcedo, DO, MPH, FACOG
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Dr. Andrea Salcedo, DO, MPH, FACOG, is a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist at Loma Linda University School of Medicine, where she provides comprehensive care ranging from routine women's health to complex gynecologic and obstetric conditions. Her clinical and research interests focus on the root causes of gynecologic disease, particularly the role of metabolic health in conditions like uterine fibroids, PCOS, and endometriosis. A published author and speaker at international conferences, she promotes non-surgical, lifestyle-based approaches to care through her YouTube channel *Conscious Gynecologist* and her telehealth practice. Fluent in English and Spanish, Dr. Salcedo is a clinician researcher, wife and mother, and passionate advocate for integrative, patient-centered medicine.
Tamer Seckin, MD, FACOG
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Tamer Seckin, MD, FACOG
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Dr. Tamer Seckin is a globally recognized gynecologic surgeon and one of the foremost experts in endometriosis. With more than 30 years of experience, he has transformed the lives of thousands of women through pioneering excisional surgery, specializing in complex cases of deep infiltrating and multi-organ endometriosis. He often emphasizes that “every lesion is a microcircuit of pain to the brain,” advocating for earlier diagnosis and precision-based treatment to improve patient outcomes.Dr. Seckin practices in New York City at Lenox Hill Hospital, where he is internationally known for his expertise in advanced endometriosis surgery. He also serves as a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, where he helps educate and mentor the next generation of physicians in recognizing and treating this often misunderstood disease.As co-founder of the Endometriosis Foundation of America (EndoFound), Dr. Seckin has helped elevate endometriosis as a major public health issue through education, advocacy, and research initiatives that bring together leading clinicians and scientists from around the world. His commitment to advancing science is reflected in the Seckin Endometriosis Research Center (SERC) Laboratory at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a landmark initiative advancing research into the genetics and biology of endometriosis.Dr. Seckin is the author of The Doctor Will See You Now: Recognizing and Treating Endometriosis, with a second edition scheduled for release in May, and Endometriosis: A Guide for Girls.Dr. Seckin’s legacy is one of healing, advocacy, and global impact, offering hope to millions affected by endometriosis worldwide.
03/12/2026 03:15 PM
Break
03/12/2026 03:45 PM
Session 8: Remarks by Olivia Walton
Olivia Walton, MSc
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Olivia Walton, MSc
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Olivia Walton is the founder of the Maternal and Child Health Center for Policy and Practice at Heartland Forward and founder and CEO of Ingeborg Investments and Ingeborg Initiatives. Her work advances outcomes for women, mothers, and families through philanthropy, policy, and investment.Olivia serves as Chairperson of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and sits on the Council of the Momentary. Her commitment to women's advancement extends to sports — she is a minority owner of the WNBA's New York Liberty.Earlier in her career, she was a Business Correspondent for NBC News and an anchor for Bloomberg Television in New York and London. She holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and the London School of Economics and is a Henry Crown Fellow (Class of 2025).Olivia lives in Bentonville, Arkansas, with her husband, Tom, and their three children.
03/12/2026 04:15 PM
Introductory Remarks by Chris Mashburn
Chris Mashburn
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Chris Mashburn
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Chris Mashburn is a distinguished executive leader with a multifaceted career spanning law enforcement, national security, technology innovation, and healthcare operations. As Chief Operating and AI Officer at Jorie Healthcare Partners (dba Jorie AI), he drives the company's operational excellence, growth strategy, and development of cutting-edge AI platforms that are transforming revenue cycle management and healthcare efficiency.Chris began his professional journey in January 1989 after graduating from Tarleton State University (part of the Texas A&M University System) and being accepted into the Texas Department of Public Safety (TexasHighway Patrol). He advanced rapidly through the ranks, joining special operations units focused on criminal and drug interdiction. He pioneered the state's first statewide program in these areas and provided trainingto state and federal agencies nationwide and internationally.Later, as Audit and Inspection Captain in the Director’s Office, Chris directly engaged with the Texas Legislature on state law matters, conducted comprehensive assessments of all operational functions withinthe Texas Department of Public Safety and served as a subject matter expert on the federal Crime Bill during the Clinton Administration.In 2000, he was selected to help manage protection details for then-Governor George W. Bush during his presidential campaign, before honorably retiring from public service in 2004.Transitioning to the private sector, Chris founded and served as CEO of an elite security and technology company. Post-9/11, his firm was among the first private entities selected to support the FAA (later TSA) inenhancing airport security nationwide. He collaborated with members of Congress, state, and federal agencies to evaluate and deploy advanced security technologies for aviation. Chris developed and patentedinnovative security solutions still in use at airports today, orchestrated a national technology contract for the foundational Global Entry program, and secured federal contracts to test and implement cutting-edgeaviation security systems. Following the successful sale of his security company, Chris assumed leadership roles as Chief OperatingOfficer and later Chief Executive Officer of a publicly traded healthcare company. He guided the organization through its transition to private ownership before joining Jorie Healthcare Partners at its inception.In his current role at Jorie AI, Chris has spearheaded the creation of a state-of-the-art AI platform that leads the healthcare industry in automating revenue cycle processes, improving operational efficiency, and delivering measurable results for providers.A retired Texas Highway Patrol Captain, board member, speaker, and early advocate for AI in healthcare, Chris brings unparalleled expertise in operations, security, compliance, and innovative technology to drivemission-critical outcomes in complex environments.
03/12/2026 04:20 PM
Session 9: Transforming Outcomes in Maternal and Infant Health
Kim Hartwig, MD
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Kim Hartwig, MD
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Born and raised in Lapwai, Idaho, Dr. Hartwig became the first female Nimiipuu physician after earning her M.D. from the University of Washington School of Medicine. She served as Medical Director for Nimiipuu Health, the tribal health center for the Nez Perce Tribe, leading quality improvements, regional collaboration, and public health outreach.
Deborah Kilday, MSN, RN
Moderator
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Deborah Kilday, MSN, RN
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Deborah (Deb) Kilday, MSN, RN, serves as the Senior Advisor for Maternal and Infant Health within the Office on Women’s Health (OWH) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Deb has over 3 decades of experience, encompassing clinical care, leadership, organizational management, research, professional development, and performance improvement. Throughout her career, Deb has spearheaded national and state-level initiatives designed to standardize and scale evidence-based maternal-infant health strategies. Her work leverages advanced analytics and business intelligence to drive innovative research and process reengineering. A published researcher, she has contributed numerous peer-reviewed articles on improving maternal and infant health outcomes through advanced data analytics, high reliability, reengineering, and clinical education. She earned her Master of Science in Nursing, Leadership, and Organizational Management from Brenau University.
Angela Lanning
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Angela Lanning
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Angela Lanning serves as Chief Operating Officer for Premier’s Informatics and Technology Services organization, where she provides executive leadership across product strategy, development, implementation, customer support, training, and data management. With a career at Premier that began in January 1993, Angela has more than three decades of experience advancing healthcare performance, technology, and data-driven improvement. Over the course of her tenure, she has held numerous leadership roles, including Vice President of Client Management, where she focused on ensuring customer value and satisfaction through Premier’s performance improvement solutions. Her experience spans broad management responsibility for operational operations, including the operationalization of complex data management and product development initiatives that support national healthcare collaborations. Angela has led high-impact teams that delivered measurable value using clinical and financial comparative data, achieving strong returns on investment, and she directed performance engineering programs that drove meaningful improvement at individual health systems. She guided the Performance Excellence Assessment and Knowledge (P.E.A.K.) team, contributing to Premier’s receipt of the North Carolina State Award for Quality and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. She also played a key role in operationalizing major CMS quality reporting programs and the first national pay-for-performance Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration involving hundreds of hospitals. She is currently the executive sponsor for the HHS Maternal Morbidity Mortality Prevention Initiative. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from North Carolina State University.
Lindsey Meehleis, LM, CPM
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Lindsey Meehleis, LM, CPM
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Lindsey Meehleis, LM, CPM, is a Midwife licensed through the Medical Board of California and certified by the Registry of Midwives (NARM), with over two decades in birth work and 16 years of clinical experience serving women and families in California. Trained through apprenticeship and formal certification pathways, her work integrates traditional midwifery practice with contemporary healthcare systems to advance safe, collaborative maternity care.She began her healthcare career in emergency medicine in 1999, where she developed a nuanced understanding of medical intervention and the cascade of clinical events that can precede and follow its use. Her later work in midwifery cultivated respect for the body’s innate physiology and processes supporting healthy pregnancy and birth. Having attended thousands of births, she brings a dual perspective grounded in physiologic birth and clinical standards.Central to her work is recognition of the newborn as an experiencing and responsive participant in birth, informed by research in early neurodevelopment and maternal-infant physiology. She has trained with midwives and traditional birth practitioners internationally, incorporating tested practices supporting maternal and infant well-being.Meehleis advances collaboration between community-based providers and Western allopathic models of care while advocating preservation of rigorous science in midwifery education. Recognizing the national shortage of midwives as a contributor to rising maternal and infant mortality rates, she supports expansion of safe pathways into midwifery practice, strengthens education between midwives and emergency medical services, and advocates modernization of FEMA emergency response protocols, integrating out-of-hospital birth into preparedness systems.Her life’s work improves maternal and infant outcomes.
Angela Stanton King
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Angela Stanton King
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Angela Stanton-King is a national bestselling author, maternal health advocate, and founder of Auntie Angie’s House, a community-based organization dedicated to empowering women and improving maternal and infant health outcomes. With a background in psychology and lived experience navigating systemic challenges, Angela has been a trusted voice in criminal justice reform, health equity, and community restoration. She is currently developing innovative maternal health solutions in partnership with public and private stakeholders to ensure every mother and baby has the support and care they deserve.
Allyson Zucker, MSc
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Allyson Zucker, MSc
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Allyson Zucker is the co-lead for the Transforming Maternal Health (TMaH) Model at the CMS Innovation Center. TMaH supports state Medicaid agencies in implementing evidence-based strategies to improve maternal and infant health outcomes. Allyson brings expertise in value-based care and integrated care models with prior experience in consulting and health economic research. Outside of the office, she volunteers as a doula to support childbearing women experiencing multiple disadvantages and financial hardships. Allyson holds an MSc in International Health Policy from the London School of Economics.
03/12/2026 05:00 PM
Session 10: Women's Mental Health: Expanding the Conversation
Laura Delano
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Laura Delano
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Laura Delano is an author, speaker, and consultant, and the founder of Inner Compass Initiative, a nonprofit organization that helps people make informed choices about taking and safely tapering off psychiatric drugs while working to shift culture, science, and policy away from medicalized responses to human suffering. Laura has worked as an advocate within and beyond the mental health system and has spent the past 15 years working with individuals and families around the world seeking guidance and support for psychiatric drug withdrawal. She is regularly turned to by psychiatrists and other mental health professionals wishing to learn about safer medication tapering protocols. Her book, Unshrunk: A Story of Psychiatric Treatment Resistance, was published in March 2025.
Ellen Vora, MD, ABIHM
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Ellen Vora, MD, ABIHM
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Ellen Vora, MD is a board-certified psychiatrist, acupuncturist, and yoga teacher. She’s the author of The Anatomy of Anxiety and the upcoming book Season of the Witch. She takes a functional medicine approach to mental health—considering the whole person and addressing imbalance at the root. Dr. Vora received her B.A. from Yale University and her M.D. from Columbia University.
03/12/2026 05:45 PM
Closing Remarks
Friday
03/13/2026 07:15 AM
Registration and Check-In
03/13/2026 09:00 AM
Opening Remarks
03/13/2026 09:05 AM
Introductory Remarks by Tess Ferm
Tess Ferm
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Tess Ferm
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Tess Ferm, Miss America’s Teen 2026, is a passionate advocate for youth health, food allergy awareness, and public policy. Living with anaphylactic food allergies and eosinophilic esophagitis, Tess has transformed her personal health journey into a mission to improve safety, education, and resources for others facing similar challenges.A 2026 Teens in Action Overall Winner and the 2025 Teen of Impact for South Carolina with the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women initiative, Tess is committed to empowering young people to prioritize heart health and understand the impact of immune disorders. Tess currently serves as an intern with the American Heart Association and as a 2026 spokesperson for the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Connection Team (FAACT). Through these roles, she collaborates with nonprofit organizations that provide allergen friendly foods to food pantries, educate youth about immune related conditions, and support innovative tools such as food allergy safety apps.In her home state of South Carolina, Tess also advocates for health policies and legislation that protect individuals living with food allergies and chronic immune disorders, working to create safer schools and communities. As Miss America’s Teen 2026, Tess Ferm uses her platform to champion awareness, advance policy solutions, and ensure that young people living with health conditions are empowered to lead healthy, confident lives.
03/13/2026 09:10 AM
Session 11: Making Strong Women Stronger: Resilience After Cancer
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Introductory Remarks by Tess Ferm
Candace Badgett, PhD
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Candace Badgett, PhD
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In 1990, Candace Badgett and her husband, Rogers Badgett, built a 36,000 sq ft complex –– The Raj, Ayurveda Health Center, in Fairfield, Iowa –– pioneering the use of Ayurvedic medicine in North America. They are the owners and operators of this facility, as well as international consultants to those who wish to open Ayurveda clinics in the US and abroad.Candace is currently collaborating with Mayo Clinic’s Department of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in researching Ayurveda modalities for purification of environmental toxins and for addressing chronic disorders. She is also currently collaborating with El Camino Hospital regarding a program for addressing Postpartum Depression.Recently Candace joined the Advisory Board of the Ayurveda Consortium of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, and is also participating in an initiative with the Government of India.
Shira Boehler, MBA
Moderator
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Shira Boehler, MBA
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Shira Kupperman Boehler is an investor and policy advocate with deep experience embedded in the U.S. healthcare system. Trained in molecular biology and finance, she has spent her career closely involved in the building and scaling of national healthcare platforms alongside founders, federal policymakers, providers, and investors. A lifelong athlete and mother of four, she now focuses her work on advancing early lung cancer detection and prevention-focused health policy. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee with her family.
Ella Davar, RD, CDN
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Ella Davar, RD, CDN
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Registered Dietitian licensed in Florida and New York, clinically trained in Medical Nutrition Therapy at New York University, with early research and community health experience at Mount Sinai Hospital’s Familia Project, a population health initiative focused on cardiometabolic prevention and nutrition education. She has also served as a preceptor and educator for nutrition and health science students throughout her career.
Lynese Lawson, DO, ABAARM
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Lynese Lawson, DO, ABAARM
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Lynese L. Lawson, DO, ABAARM, IFMCP, is an integrative and functional medicine specialist with a clinical focus on women’s health across the lifespan. She emphasizes comprehensive evaluation of hormonal, metabolic, immune and environmental factors that uniquely affect women, including perimenopause and menopause, fertility concerns, fatigue, and mood and cognitive changes. Dr. Lawson has extensive experience in the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease and related tick-borne infections in women, with particular attention to how chronic infections can intersect with hormones, autoimmunity, and complex chronic illness. Based at Proactive Wellness Center, with locations in northern Virginia and Maryland, she uses advanced diagnostic testing and evidence-based integrative therapies to develop personalized care plans that address root causes, improve function, and enhance quality of life for women facing persistent, often under-recognized health challenges.
Allison Mignone, MBA
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Allison Mignone, MBA
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Allison Mignone is a visionary philanthropist and patient advocate dedicated to revolutionizing women’s healthcare and expanding educational accessibility. A survivor of triple-negative breast cancer, she transformed her personal journey into action by establishing the Mignone Women’s Health Collaborative at NYU Langone Health, a $50 million initiative focused on delivering holistic, integrated medical care for women. Driven by a belief that informed patients are empowered patients, Allison champions research, innovation, and community engagement to close longstanding gaps in women’s health. Her commitment to public education and science is further reflected in the Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals at the American Museum of Natural History and the Mignone Center for Career Success at Harvard University. Formerly a Managing Director at Lone Pine Capital, Allison holds both an AB and an MBA from Harvard. She now resides in Bronxville, New York, where she continues to champion transformative philanthropy and patient-centered advocacy alongside her husband, Roberto, and their four daughters.
03/13/2026 09:45 AM
HHS New Cervical Cancer Screening Guidelines
Ann Sheehy, MD, MS
Director of the Office of Planning, Analysis and Evaluation for the Health, Health Resources and Services Administration
Ann Sheehy, MD, MS
Director of the Office of Planning, Analysis and Evaluation for the Health, Health Resources and Services Administration
Ann Sheehy, MD, MS, professor, Hospital Medicine, will leave the University of Wisconsin to take the role of chief medical officer (CMO) and Director of the Office of Planning, Analysis and Evaluation for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) on September 23.
The HRSA, one of thirteen operating agencies of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, seeks to improve health outcomes and health equity for geographically isolated, economically or medically vulnerable populations.
Dr. Sheehy served as chief of the Division of Hospital Medicine from 2010 to 2023, when she assumed the role of UW Health Senior Medical Director of Population Health and UW Health ACO President.
"As division chief, Dr. Sheehy built a team known for its exceptional clinical service, teamwork, and sense of community," says Lynn Schnapp, MD, George R. and Elaine Love Professor and department chair. "The division continues to thrive thanks to the strong foundation she established. Her dedication to advocacy and public policy will only be amplified in her new role, and I am excited for both her future and the positive impact she will have on healthcare as a whole."
As a clinician and researcher, Dr. Sheehy’s career has largely been defined by her tireless work in the areas of population health, health equity, and health policy—with a particular focus on how policies impact the most disadvantaged Medicare beneficiaries.
03/13/2026 10:00 AM
Session 12: Menopause, Hormone Health and Longevity
Esther Blum, MS, RD
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Esther Blum, MS, RD
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Esther Blum is an Integrative Dietitian, Menopause Expert, Host of The Midlife Realignment podcast, and TEDx speaker. In the past 3 decades she has helped thousands of women master menopause through nutrition, hormones and self-advocacy.Esther is the bestselling author of See ya later, Ovulator, Cavewomen Don’t Get Fat, Eat, Drink and Be Gorgeous, Secrets of Gorgeous, and The Eat, Drink, and Be Gorgeous Project.Known as Gwyneth Paltrow’s menopause mentor and by Forbes for helping women thrive through menopause, Esther has appeared on the Today Show, ABC-TV, FOX and Good Day NY and is frequently quoted in goop, Well + Good, Oprah, Forbes, Time Magazine, The New York Post, The Los Angeles Times, In Style, Bazaar, Self, Fitness, Marie Claire, and Cosmo.Esther received a Bachelor of Science in Clinical Nutrition from Simmons College in Boston and is a graduate of New York University, where she received her Master of Science in Clinical Nutrition. Esther is credentialed as a registered dietitian, a certified dietitian-nutritionist and a Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS), the certification from the Board for Certification of Nutrition Specialists (BCNS).Esther lives in CT with her family where she can be seen cooking up a storm, going for long hikes, and blasting 80’s music by the fire pit.
Suzanne Fenske, MD, FACOG
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Suzanne Fenske, MD, FACOG
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Dr. Suzanne Fenske is double-board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Integrative Medicine. She completed her medical school training and Drexel College of Medicine. She then went on to complete her Obstetrics and Gynecology residency at Beth Israel Medical Center. After finishing residency, she completed a fellowship in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and a second fellowship in Integrative Medicine at University of Arizona Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine and a third fellowship in Functional Medicine. Dr. Fenske is a menopause certified provider with The Menopause Society and Assistant Clinical Professor at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Fenske founded TārāMD in 2021 with a mission to help women take control of their health and wellbeing by blending the best of modern and integrative medicine.
Dorothy Fink, MD
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Dorothy Fink, MD
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Dr. Dorothy Fink serves as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health and Director of the Office on Women’s Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A physician with experience spanning federal health leadership, academic medicine, clinical care, and research, she previously served as the Acting Assistant Secretary for Health and the Acting Secretary of Health and Human Services, supporting continuity of leadership and oversight across the Department’s public health and human services portfolio.Prior to joining HHS, Dr. Fink was a jointly appointed Assistant Professor at the Hospital for Special Surgery and Weill Cornell Medical Center. She earned her medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine and completed combined training in internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, followed by a fellowship in endocrinology and metabolism at Columbia University. During her fellowship, she was selected as a Women’s Health Scholar and worked at the Center for Menopause, Hormonal Disorders and Women's Health. Dr. Fink has published peer-reviewed research on maternal and infant health, diabetes, osteoporosis, and other conditions affecting women across the lifespan.
Sarah Hill, PhD
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Sarah Hill, PhD
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Dr. Sarah E. Hill is an award-winning researcher and professor at TCU, as well as a sought-after speaker, consultant, and media expert. Sarah’s groundbreaking research has resulted in 100+ research publications and her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Scientific American, The Economist, and on television shows like Good Morning and Today. Sarah has also authored two groundbreaking books that uncover the hidden truths about women’s sex hormones: This Is Your Brain on Birth Control and The Period Brain.
Barbara Levy, MD, FACOG
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Barbara Levy, MD, FACOG
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Barbara Levy, MD is chief medical officer of Visana Health, Inc., a virtual women’s health company, and a consultant working to improve women's health globally. Dr. Levy is also Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and Voluntary Clinical Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at UC San Diego School of Medicine. She has over 35 years of experience in direct care, research, and physician training in women’s health care. Dr. Levy is practiced in leading initiatives in international and domestic health, public-private partnerships, government relations, and advocacy and policy development. Dr, Levy served as the Vice President for Health Policy at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists from 2012 to 2019. In addition, she has worked with the American Medical Society in coding and reimbursement since the 1990s, Currently she is vice-Chair of the AMA’s CPT Editorial Panel.She has published and co-authored over 100 studies and articles. Her personal and professional experience has focused on improving the health and well-being of women across the United States and around the world.
Roxy Manning
Moderator
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Roxy Manning
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Roxy Manning is an on-camera host, journalist, and creator of The Iconic Midlife, a podcast and media platform dedicated to the evolving health, identity, and influence of women over 40. With more than two decades of experience interviewing cultural leaders, physicians, and public figures, she is known for guiding smart, accessible conversations at the intersection of women’s health, longevity, and modern midlife.
03/13/2026 10:45 AM
Session 13: Fireside Chat with Alicia Jackson and Chris Klomp
Alicia Jackson, PhD
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Alicia Jackson, PhD
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Dr. Alicia Jackson was appointed by President Trump as Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) and sworn in on October 20, 2025. Dr. Jackson reports directly to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary. Dr. Jackson joins ARPA-H from Evernow, a company she founded and led as CEO, focused on transforming women’s health and longevity during menopause. Previously, she served as a Program Manager and, subsequently, Deputy Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Biological Technologies Office, guiding an investment portfolio across biodefense, novel medicine development, and biomanufacturing to protect the nation while advancing groundbreaking scientific capabilities. She has served as a Senate policy advisor, as well as co-founder, Board Member, and advisor of several biotech and health startups, including OOVA, ImmuneBridge, and Drawbridge Health. Dr. Jackson holds a Ph.D. in materials science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Chris Klomp, MBA
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Chris Klomp, MBA
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Chris Klomp serves as the Director of the Center for Medicare and Deputy Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and was recently appointed as Chief Counselor of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where he oversees all day-to-day operations.Chris has driven healthcare reform at state and federal levels, focusing on value-based care and interoperability. He built Salt Lake City-based Collective Medical, the largest real-time interoperability and care collaboration platform in the country, has co-founded, advised, and served on the board of many innovative startups and on the Utah Senate-confirmed Digital Health Services Commission, and worked at Bain Capital and Bain & Company. Chris holds a B.A. with honors in Economics and English from BYU and an MBA from Stanford from which he graduated an Arjay Miller Scholar.He lives in Washington, DC and Park City, UT with his wife and four children.
03/13/2026 11:30 AM
Session 14: Innovation in the Private Sector: The Next Decade in Women's Health
Piraye Beim, PhD
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Piraye Beim, PhD
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Piraye Yurttas Beim, PhD is a molecular biologist, entrepreneur, and angel investor. She founded Celmatix in 2009, serving as the company’s Chief Scientist through 2021 and CEO through the 2026 acquisition of its full therapeutic pipeline by Gedeon Richter. Celmatix was among the first biotechnology companies built around the idea that the unique biology of women required its own innovation infrastructure, datasets, and drug discovery strategies, years before the term “FemTech” existed. In 2017, Celmatix was named by Fast Company as one of the Most Innovative Companies in the World.Under Dr. Beim’s leadership, Celmatix generated foundational discoveries into the genomic drivers of female biology and reproductive health and built a pipeline of first-in-class therapeutic programs spanning fertility, endometriosis, and ovarian health. She continues to support the advancement of these programs with Richter following the transaction. Celmatix was also the sole awardee in the ovarian health Spark category of the ARPA-H Sprint for Women’s Health, for which Dr. Beim served as Principal Investigator, recognizing the company’s work to optimize and extend ovarian function across the lifespan through novel therapeutic approaches.Dr. Beim has dedicated more than two decades to advancing women’s health science and innovation. During her PhD training at Cornell University (Weill Medical College) and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, she worked on the front lines of the precision medicine revolution in women’s health oncology. She later completed her postdoctoral training at the University of Cambridge, focusing on the molecular biology of fertility and reproductive health.Dr. Beim is also the co-founder and chairman of Eve’s Ark, a nonprofit initiative working to accelerate progress in women’s health by building the scientific infrastructure needed to generate, protect, and translate high-quality biological and clinical data on female health. The initiative is grounded in the belief that everyone benefits when the unique biology of half the people on Earth is fully included in science and medicine.Dr. Beim has been widely recognized as a leader in business and entrepreneurship. She is a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and has been named to ELLE’s Women in Tech Power List, Inc. Magazine’s Top Female Founders, Crain’s 40 Under 40 and Notable Women in Tech, Goldman Sachs’s Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs, Fortune’s Top 15 Founders Disrupting Their Industries, and Rock Health’s Disruptive Founder of the Year. She recently served as Chair of the Endometriosis Foundation of America and sits on the board of the Center on Rural Innovation.Dr. Beim was raised in Texas and now lives between New York City and Bridgehampton with her three children. She does not intend to go into menopause—ever.
Chris Curry, MD, PhD
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Chris Curry, MD, PhD
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Chris Curry, MD, PhD, is Oura’s Clinical Director of Women’s Health, where she supports the Chief Medical Officer in guiding the vision for Oura’s global healthcare programs and partnerships. Her leadership supports collaboration across all parts of the company that touch women’s health, including science and research, product, and healthcare partnerships.Dr. Curry brings experience and insight in medicine, digital health, and research. Prior to joining the Oura team, she was at Apple, where she led the product and research work on women’s health, including Cycle Tracking and Pregnancy Mode. Her scientific expertise is reflected in her leadership on the Apple Women’s Health Study.In other chapters of her life, she has worked in women’s health in a variety of ways. She has taught the next generation of OB/GYN providers through her experience as an Assistant Clerkship Director (Boston University) and Associate Program Director (Jackson Memorial Hospital). She continues to teach students and residents during her ongoing weekly clinical practice at Kaiser. Along with teaching, she has done research in a variety of women’s health domains, such as pregnancy complications, infectious disease, and contraception. her clinical work has included caring for women in the correctional system (Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Framingham) and leading the response to Zika from clinical outcomes, research, and public health perspectives while based at the University of Miami.
Bridget K. Devoy, JD, MSc
Moderator
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Bridget K. Devoy, JD, MSc
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Bridget K. Devoy, Chief of Staff of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), is a governance and regulatory leader with experience across public health institutions, healthcare organizations, philanthropy, and mission-driven enterprises. In her role at HHS, Bridget oversees strategic operations, policy coordination, and organizational management across OASH’s national public health portfolio, working closely with the Assistant Secretary for Health to support the execution of cross-cutting federal health priorities and interagency initiatives.Prior to joining HHS, Bridget advised private foundations, public charities, hospitals, educational institutions, and other tax-exempt organizations on governance, regulatory compliance, and domestic and international grantmaking. She frequently served as outside general counsel to clients, guiding organizations through launch, growth, and institutional transformation. Bridget previously served as general counsel at a national children’s charity and as assistant general counsel at a major entertainment studio.Bridget holds an undergraduate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, a law degree from Harvard Law School, and master’s degrees from the London School of Economics and Political Science, the University of Vienna, and New York University School of Law. She is active in her local community and is particularly passionate about helping organizations focused on foster youth, animal welfare, and the arts.
Linda Griffith, PhD
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Linda Griffith, PhD
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Linda Griffith received her BS in from Georgia Tech (1982) and her PhD from UC Berkeley (1988), both in Chemical Engineering. She is currently the School of Engineering Professor of Teaching Innovation in Biological Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she also directs the Center for Gynepathology Research. She has commercialized several tissue engineering and microphysiological systems platform technologies, including 3DPrinting for bone regeneration and the Liverchip, and is a co-founder of Lumicell, which received FDA approval in 2024 for technology to detect tumor margins intraoperatively. She is leading the NIH Novel Alternative Methods (NAMs) Technology Development Center for Women’s Health, focusing on endometriosis drug development and sex-specific organs on chips. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Inventors, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a MacArthur Foundation Fellow, and has received numerous other awards from professional societies and from MIT. She has served on the advisory board of the Society for Women’s Health Research and on the advisory committee to the director of the National Institutes of Health (2016-2019). She is a founding member of MIT’s Biological Engineering Department and is recognized at MIT as a MacVicar Fellow, awarded for excellence in undergraduate education.
Kate Ryder, MSc
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Kate Ryder, MSc
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Kate Ryder is the founder and CEO of Maven Clinic, the largest virtual clinic for women’s and family health. Maven offers virtual care and services across fertility, maternity, pediatrics, and menopause, and operates the largest women's and family health telehealth network globally. With Maven, employers and health plans can see improved maternal outcomes, lower costs, and attract and retain more parents in the workforce. Maven has raised $400M and is valued at $1.7 billion. Prior to founding Maven in 2014, Kate worked in venture capital and as a journalist, writing for The Economist from Southeast Asia, New York and London and for The New Yorker. In 2009, she worked with former U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, helping him write his memoirs about the financial crisis. Kate has been named to Fortune’s 40 Under 40 and to Fast Company’s “Most Creative People.” Kate received her B.A. from the University of Michigan and her MSc from the London School of Economics. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and three children.
Emily Stein
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Emily Stein
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Emily Stein is the Founder and CEO of Gaia Health, an early-stage consumer biotech company developing advanced sustained-release drug-delivery technologies through the lens of patient trust, design, and experience. Gaia's platform enables new therapies to reach patients and makes existing ones more precise, accessible, and easier to live with. Their first program focuses on women's health, where decades of underinvestment have left significant gaps in both innovation and patient quality of life. She holds a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University.
03/13/2026 12:15 PM
Session 15: Keynote
Vonda Wright, MD, MS
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Vonda Wright, MD, MS
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Dr. Vonda Wright, MD is a pioneering orthopedic sports surgeon, researcher, an expert in human performance, longevity, and an authority in women's health. Widely recognized for her innovative thought leadership, she is committed to redefining aging globally. Dr Wright is a frequent media and conference expert, and her science-based approach is changing the lives of millions in mid-life. Dr Wright’s compelling messages and no-nonsense delivery not only informs but inspires action, encouraging athletes and active people of all ages and skill levels to reclaim their health and thrive at every stage of life. Dr Wright was trained at the prestigious Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, served as an academic surgeon, team doctor and Medical Director of the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex at the University of Pittsburgh for 20 years and currently practices in Lake Nona Florida where she is the founder and CEO of Precision Longevity. Her NYT best selling book, UNBREAKABLE, was released in August of 2025.
03/13/2026 12:45 PM
Closing Remarks
Earn CE Credits
With interdisciplinary collaboration at its core, the HHS National Conference on Women’s Health will feature timely sessions addressing critical issues in women’s health and opportunities to earn continuing education (CE) credits across multiple specialties. This activity will be accredited through the Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) process, ensuring that the learning experience supports collaborative, team-based care. CE credit will be available across a range of professional disciplines, with final session-specific accreditation details to be shared closer to the event.
Earn CE Credits
With interdisciplinary collaboration at its core, the HHS National Conference on Women’s Health will feature timely sessions addressing critical issues in women’s health and opportunities to earn continuing education (CE) credits across multiple specialties.
This activity will be accredited through the Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) process, ensuring that the learning experience supports collaborative, team-based care. CE credit will be available across a range of professional disciplines, with final session-specific accreditation details to be shared closer to the event.
Event Sponsors
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Plan Your Visit
The HHS National Conference on Women’s Health is being held at the historic Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. This iconic hotel offers a perfect blend of historic elegance and modern convenience. The hotel's prime location near the National Mall and other major attractions offers ample opportunities for exploration and enjoyment beyond the conference.
For your convenience, a block of discounted hotel rooms at the Omni Shoreham has been secured for conference attendees. Rates are available until February 17, 2026, or until the block sells out – whichever comes first.
To make your hotel reservation, use the link below or call Omni Reservations at 1-800-THE-OMNI and refer to NCWH2026.
Susan Sumner, PhD
Susan Sumner, PhD is a Professor in the Departments of Nutrition and Pharmacology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), and director of the Metabolomics and Exposome Laboratory at UNC’s Nutrition Research Institute. Dr. Sumner’s research in precision health is shaping the future of providing nutritional guidance at the individual and community levels. Her laboratory analyzes biospecimens using advanced technology and complex modelling to reveal how nutritional status, dietary intake, environmental exposures, behaviors, physical activity, lifestyle factors, and genetics influence health and wellness. Dr. Sumner contributes to advancing Precision Health in fields of pregnancy complications, birth and early childhood outcomes, infertility, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and addiction.
Dr. Sumner serves as the principal investigator (PI) of the NCI/NIH Common Fund Metabolomics and Clinical Assay Center (MCAC) for the Nutrition for Precision Health (NPH) study - powered by the All of Us program. She also serves as a PI in the NIEHS funded Human Health Exposure Analysis Resource (HHEAR) program, providing metabolism and exposure related findings to the Environmental influences on Childhood Outcomes (ECHO) program, and to the Chronic kidney diseases of UnceRtain Etiology (CURE) consortium.
Dr. Sumner earned a PhD in physical chemistry from North Carolina State University in 1986 and conducted a postdoctoral fellowship at the NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.