The Food and Drug Administration announced that Dr. Michelle Tarver will be the new director of the medical device division. Dr. Tarver will face a slate of pressing tasks, that include addressing calls to strengthen standards to protect the public from issues like racial bias in artificial intelligence software and hastily authorized and faulty cardiac devices, like external defibrillators. Read more. (Image: Michelle E. Tarver M.D., Ph.D. via FDA)

How Golden Seeds is driving an uptick in women angel investors.
Women angels are now nearly half (47%) of the market, up from just 19% 10 years ago. One of the organizations helping drive that change is Golden Seeds, the largest U.S. angel network that focuses exclusively on women-led companies. Read more.

Gender inequity persists among journal chief editors.
Despite decades of effort to combat gender bias in science, the issue remains pervasive. The issue goes to the very top, as shown by one proxy for leadership in science: journal chief editors. Read more.

ORWH Director Elected to the National Academy of Medicine.

The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has announced that ORWH Director, Janine Austin Clayton, M.D., FARVO, has been elected as a new NAM member. Dr. Clayton was elected for advancing policy, program, and practice innovations to improve the health of all women by catalyzing the integration of sex/gender factors across the biomedical research continuum to galvanize discovery and equity. Read more.(Image via NIH)

How to Close the Gender Health Gap.
A recent report from the McKinsey Health Institute describes the gender health gap as a “$1 trillion opportunity to improve lives and economies,” such is the scale of imbalance against women’s health care worldwide. Read more.

“You Learn More from Failure—When Things Are Not Working Well.”
Biochemist Katalin Karikó won the Nobel Prize for research that laid the groundwork for effective COVID-19 vaccines. She talks about how hard work and focus led to her scientific success and about the joy of solving interesting puzzles. Read more.

ARPA-H Announces Sprint for Women’s Health Awards.

ARPA-H announced the 23 teams to receive awards as part of the Sprint for Women’s Health, committing $110 million to fund solutions for health conditions that uniquely or disproportionately affect women. Read more. Watch Dr. Renee Wegrzyn's RFS presentation here. (Image via ARPA-H)

Nearly 50% of researchers quit science within a decade, huge study reveals.
A study of nearly 400,000 scientists across 38 countries finds that one-third of them quit science within five years of authoring their first paper, and almost half leave within a decade. Read more.

Women stay in science far longer than thought, study of OECD countries suggests.
In the past, studies have observed that women tend to leave science earlier, and in greater numbers, than men do, but a longitudinal study of 375,000 people has concluded the attrition rate may not be as great as once thought. Read more.

VASEM Inducts New Members for 2024.

The Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (VASEM) announce the induction of its newest members for 2024. These distinguished individuals have made significant contributions to their respective fields, ranging from engineering and veterinary medicine to women's health and computer science. With special congratulations to Dr. Susan Kornstein, Editor of the peer-reviewed Journal of Women’s Health! Read more.(Image via VCU Health)

The Untold Story of Marie Curie’s Network of Female Scientists.
In the new book The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2024), author (and Scientific American poetry editor) Dava Sobel chronicles Marie Curie’s life and work, and sketches biographies of many of the women who worked with her. Read more.

The ARPA-H Sprint for Women’s Health addresses critical unmet challenges in women’s health.
A Wyss research team led by Girija Goyal has been awarded $3 million from ARPA-H as part of the federal agency’s Sprint for Women’s Health. Wyss startup Gameto was also awarded $10 million as part of the program. The Wyss Institute at Harvard is a member of RFS Council of Academic Institutions. Read more.

Marie Curie: Mentor to Women or Martyr to Science?
In a new biography, Dava Sobel focuses not just on the legendary physicist and chemist, but on the 45 women who worked in her lab. Read more.

We are pleased to welcome the first members of our new Council of Corporate Leadership!