A few weeks ago world leaders came together for a meeting at the United Nations building in New York to discuss a whole host of issues facing the global community ranging from the proliferation of nuclear weapons to climate change.  While, weeks later, the conference still may be most famous for its discussion of mushroom clouds the meeting also yielded a less covered but equally important fallout for the way policy makers address women’s issues.

The UN, at the conference, consolidated four separate agencies focussed on women’s issues into one much more powerful group, UNIFEM.  In addition to improving organizational efficiency, the new über-agency hopes to more quickly and effectively address global issues that disproportionately affect women.  Chief among these issues are health concerns.  UNIFEM cites, among other statistics that women in sub-Saharan Africa aged 15-24 are 6 times more likely than their male counterparts to test positive for HIV.

UNIFEM, though, is extending its sights far beyond HIV and even beyond addressing sexual assaults, poverty, and political representation, all of which are most certainly on the to-do list.  The agency seeks to expose and attack gender inequality issues wherever they exist, whether it be on the battlefield, in the halls of congress, or within the walls of a hospital.

This is, in many ways, an ambition shared by Oncofertility Consortium and The Institute for Women’s Health Research.  These two organizations have put their full efforts behind expanding clinical trials on women’s health issues and improving women’s fertility preservation options, already to tremendous success.  Whether it’s a new international agency, a nationwide collaboration between basic science researchers and clinicians, or as an ever-growing database in the state of Illinois, the potential of this increased attention to women’s issues on all levels and in all arenas is should be exciting to women (and men) everywhere.

(via CNN)

Congratulations to Ariella Shikanov on receiving the IBNAM-Baxter Early Career Award.  She will investigate a combination of natural and synthetic hydrogels and drug delivery technology to maximize ovarian tissue transplantation.

The full story can be found here!

Next week, October 17, several of our Oncofertility Consortium members will be participating on a panel at the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities conference in Washington, DC. Their panel title is:  “From Lab To Bedside To Patient And Back Again: Gendered Responses To Questions About Fertility And Cancer Treatment And Their Clinical And Research Implications.” Below is an abstract for the meeting, as well as a quick summary of what each presenter will be talking about. If you happen to be attending the meeting, the panel will be held at 5:45-6:45; it promises to be interesting!!

Abstract
Because of recent breakthroughs and improved treatments, more people who are diagnosed with cancer survive. And many of these people are young, either in their childbearing years or survivors of childhood cancer. Indeed, one estimate is that by 2010 one of every 250 adults will be a survivor of childhood cancer. But while more aggressive treatments have allowed more young people to survive cancer, these treatments have also resulted in impaired fertility for some. Oncofertility has emerged as a way to address this threat to fertility for those with cancer, and through biomedical research the field is actively developing new ways to help those afflicted with cancer preserve their ability to have biological children.

Oncologists focus on treating a patient’s cancer, but cancer is more than a physical illness for the patient. Cancer, and its implications, has social, cultural, and familial repercussions for patients as well. One such implication is cancer-related infertility. As a result of improved survivorship rates, cancer-related infertility will become a greater concern for patients and their families as the growing cohort of childhood cancer survivors begins to age. Oncofertility is necessarily interdisciplinary, bridging biomedical and social sciences such as bioethics, law, and religion, in a broader effort to examine issues regarding a person’s fertility concerns, choices, and options. In this panel, we will raise the following questions: How are patients affected by infertility as a result of cancer treatment in their day-to-day lives? How is a cancer patient’s sense of self changed because of the possibility (or reality) of infertility? Are these responses different for men and women? And how do their responses affect treatment options – how do (or should) patients’ responses, desires, and beliefs affect treatment options that are part of standard therapy and/or are part of new research?

Panel members:
1) Jacqueline Jeruss, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Northwestern University: Dr. Jeruss, a member of the Oncofertility Consortium, will provide an overview of clinical aspects of oncofertility, describing her experience with patients at the bedside. Furthermore, she will explain the goals of the clinical side of the Oncofertility Consortium, how they respond to patient needs and demands, and what clinicians have achieved thus far.
2) Shauna Gardino, MPH, Clinical Research Coordinator, Oncofertility Consortium, Northwestern University: Ms. Gardino will discuss the Oncofertility “Quality of Life” survey she is conducting, specifically, the questions that are asked, why they are asked, and what the results are so far.
3) Sarah Rodriguez, PhD, Research Fellow, Oncofertility Consortium, Northwestern University: Dr. Rodriguez will analyze how the social implications of infertility in our culture, which places a high value on women bearing children, affects women with cancer and their fertility decisions.
4) Lisa Campo-Engelstein, PhD, Research Fellow, Oncofertility Consortium, Northwestern University: Dr. Campo-Engelstein will focus on how men’s experience with cancer and infertility differs from women’s. She will explore how social expectations of masculinity, especially sexual prowess, shape the fertility choices of male cancer patients.

Oncofertility Summer Research Experience 2009

With support from the federal stimulus package Northwestern received from the National Cancer Institute, two teachers and two undergraduates gained hands-on experience in a working lab devoted to providing new fertility options for cancer patients!

The money allowed Northwestern to bring relevant lab activities to teachers around the country and bring girls through the pipeline toward careers in science.

This video gives you an idea of what the experience was like. Check out the job summary to see if you or someone you know would be interested in doing it next summer:

http://www.osep.northwestern.edu/osep/summerfellowship/
http://www.research.northwestern.edu/

The following articles in HemOnc Today and the UAB Reporter are good examples of the public awareness beginning to take shape around fertility preservation.  Take a moment to read the articles, and let us know what you think!

UAB Reporter Online: Fertility Hopes Don’t Have to End for Cancer Patients

HemOnc Today: Discussing oncofertility-The Oncologist’s Responsibility

The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) has just published a summary of the current oncofertility research in their e-Advances section titled “Building an Artificial Ovary – A New Tool for Understanding Reproductive Biology and Preserving Fertility”. This is a great piece to read if you just want a basic idea of the research behind the oncofertility consortium, and where the program is headed!

Our lab has found that follicles (the reproductive unit containing the egg and supporting cells) maintain their natural shape if grown within the biomaterial alginate in the form of a hydrogel. This allows scientists to study follicles in vitro, which is useful to understand how the follicle interacts with its environment. Also, beyond basic science, this follicle culture system is being optimized so that it can be translated to clinical use.