Johns Hopkins Medicine Hosts Briefing on Women’s Health

Since its inception in 1995, the mission for A Woman’s Journey has remained the same: to empower women to make the right health care decisions for their families and themselves.

WHAT: A Woman’s Journey will host a two hour virtual event during which Johns Hopkins Medicine experts will address important issues related to women’s health and provide vital information regarding medical advances and cutting edge research. Registrants will learn about COVID-19, systemic racism, the effect of the pandemic and social crises on stress and anxiety, emerging research about dementia, “red flag” risks for heart disease that are unique to women, how intermittent fasting impacts brain function, fibroid tumors among Black women and other topics.

WHY: This briefing provides an opportunity to hear from Johns Hopkins Medicine faculty physicians about discoveries and innovations in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illnesses that particularly affect women.

WHEN: Saturday, Nov. 7
10 a.m.–noon

WHERE: Virtual event via Zoom

REGISTRATION: Registration fees for journalists will be waived. Contact Waun’Shae Blount at 410-955-3195 or [email protected] to arrange registration.

WHO: Speakers and topics are as follows.

Plenary Speaker: Sherita Hill Golden, M.D., M.H.S., event keynote speaker and vice president and chief diversity officer at Johns Hopkins Medicine, will discuss her journey confronting racism and how she is leading efforts to address health disparities and their contributing factors including microaggressions, and systemic and structural racism at Johns Hopkins.

Diagnosing Early Cancer: Anne Marie Lennon, Ph.D., M.B.B.Ch., director of gastroenterology and hepatology and professor of medicine, will discuss potential early warning signs of cancer and reveal details about a groundbreaking diagnostic test that has emerged from Johns Hopkins research.

Blue Zones: Alicia Arbaje, M.D., M.P.H., director of translational care research and associate professor of medicine, will discuss longevity and healthy lifestyles among centenarians living in specific global habitats known as “blue zones” — places around the world where people live longer and healthier lives.

Fibroids Among African Americans: Khara Simpson, M.D., assistant professor of gynecology and obstetrics, will share details about prevalence and disparities regarding fibroids among Black women, early symptoms, risks associated with fibroids and the status of treatments.

Inflammation: Lisa Christopher-Stine, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Johns Hopkins Myositis Center and associate professor of medicine, will highlight chronic inflammation in relation to ailments from cancer, heart disease and arthritis to autoimmune diseases and dementia — and strategies to reduce chronic inflammation’s health impact.

Why Fasting Is Good for Your Brain, and Maybe Your Body: Mark Mattson, Ph.D., will discuss intermittent fasting and its potential metabolic and brain impact.

Hearty Advice: Erin Michos, M.D., M.H.S., director of women’s cardiovascular health and associate professor of medicine, will highlight risks of heart disease in women and effective and ineffective prevention strategies.

Emerging Research About Memory: Marilyn Albert, Ph.D.., director of the Johns Hopkins Department of Cognitive Science and professor of neurology, will share research initiatives to delay and treat Alzheimer’s disease, as well as information on the relationship between lifestyle factors and dementia risk.