Yale Bulletin and Calendar

November 22-December 6, 1999

Volume 28, Number 14

Donaghue grants to support
studies on women's health

Yale scientists will initiate cutting-edge research on women's health with new grants from the Ethel F. Donaghue Women's Health Investigator Program at Yale.

This year's recipients of Donaghue Women's Health Investigator Awards include six Yale faculty members with research interests ranging from gene therapy for ovarian cancer to light therapy for pregnant women with depression. Investigators will receive one- or two-year grants of up to $200,000 from a total 1999 award of $600,000.

The Ethel F. Donaghue Women's Health Investigator Program at Yale was established in 1998 with an initial five-year, $6.5 million grant from the Patrick and Catherine Weldon Donaghue Medical Research Foundation. The Donaghue Program fosters the development of new knowledge about the health and health care of women. In its first year, the program funded 11 researchers dedicated to the study of women's health.

"This year's researchers have a clear commitment to generating new and useful scientific knowledge about women's health," says Carolyn Mazure, professor of psychiatry and director of the Ethel F. Donaghue Women's Health Investigator Program at Yale. "This knowledge will result in practical benefits in the health and well-being of all women."

The 1999 awardees and their areas of study include:

* Dr. Setusko K. Chambers, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, who will study ways that gene therapy can be used to control the aggressive spread of tumors in ovarian cancer.

* Dr. Karl L. Insogna, associate professor of medicine, who will study the role of dietary protein in the prevention of osteoporosis.

* Dr. Dan A. Oren, associate professor of psychiatry, who will study ways in which light therapy can be used to treat depression in pregnancy.

* Peter Salovey, professor in the psychiatry and epidemiology and public health departments and in the Yale Cancer Center, who will study ways to develop effective health messages for women about mammography, that can be adopted by health communications practitioners in a variety of settings.

* Dr. Sally E. Shaywitz, professor in the pediatrics and neurology departments and in the Yale Child Study Center, who will study the effects of estrogen and memory in postmenopausal women.

* Ann B. Williams, professor in the School of Nursing, who will study methods for enhancing cancer screening in HIV positive women.

"This award provides pilot funding that allows the study of a novel treatment approach to depression that could not have been studied without this aid," notes Oren. "I am grateful to the Donaghue Women's Health Investigator Program at Yale for their critical support."

The Donaghue Program is a key component of the Women's Health Program at Yale, which has been designated by the U.S. Department of Human Services as a National Center of Excellence.

The Donaghue Program recently announced a request for proposals in women's health research for the next funding cycle of $800,000 in grants. For more information, call the program office at (203) 764-6600.

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