December 2025 Newsletter
Save the Date! 20th Annual Women’s Health Research Day to be held on April 28th, 2026 at Larrick Student Center. Registration and abstracts opening early 2026.
Save the Date! The Health of Women 2026 Conference, presented by the VCU Institute for Women’s Health, will be held on Friday, May 29, 2026, at the Hilton Richmond Hotel & Spa – Short Pump. Registration is open!
IWH Training Survey
- Please complete this survey to help us gather data on training and mentoring activities of IWH Affiliate Faculty. Contact Dr. Heather Jones (hjones7@vcu.edu) with any questions.
Upcoming IWH Research Development Group Meetings
- Cancer in Women Research Development Group: December 10, 2025 at 1:00pm
- Nutrition and Women’s Health Research Development Group Meeting: December 11, 2025 at 11:00am
- Interpersonal Violence & Trauma Research Development Group Meeting: December 15, 2025 at 11:00am
- Perinatal Health Research Development Group Meeting: December 17, 2025 at 9:00am
- Addiction and Women’s Health Research Development Group Meeting: January TBD
- Female Athlete Research Development Group: January TBD
To be added to the list for any of the Research Development Groups or to suggest a new group, please contact molly.hyer@vcuhealth.org.
Featured Faculty of the Month
Please join us in congratulating Faye Belgrave, PhD, as our IWH Featured Faculty of the Month! Dr. Belgrave is a Professor in the Department of Psychology and the former Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer at VCU. She is internationally renowned for her work on health disparities, community-engaged and culturally informed, and gender-specific research. During her impactful career focused on the promotion of well-being amongst African Americans, Dr. Belgrave has had many notable achievements, including a lifetime achievement award and distinguished leadership award from the American Psychological Association, the Association of Black Psychologists Distinguished Psychologist Award, and VCU’s Presidential Medallion award. She has also authored multiple seminal books on African American psychology.
Help us celebrate excellence by nominating standout faculty or yourself to be the next IWH Affiliate Faculty of the Month. Use the Newsletter Submission Form, and be sure to include 1-2 sentences highlighting their impact, achievements, or what makes their work stand out.
News from IWH leadership and affiliate faculty
Barbara Boyan, PhD, Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and IWH Director of Innovation, Henry Donahue, PhD, Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and Rene Olivares-Navarrete, DDS, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, were recognized by the 2025 Stanford Elsevier Top Scientists List as being among the top 2% of most-cited researchers worldwide.
Peter Hamilton, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, and Caitlin Martin, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology were featured on the latest episode of the VCU Wright Center’s new podcast series discussing their journey to independence as early career investigators.
Patricia Kinser, PhD, Dean of the VCU School of Nursing, was quoted in a recent VCU News article discussing VCU’s role in confronting the shortage of health care professionals in Virginia. VCU is the state’s top producer of health science graduates.
Jessie Oldham, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, IWH Director of Communications, and former BIRCWH Scholar was highlighted in VCU News for her recent R01 investigating post-concussion psychophysiological deficits in adolescent athletes.
Molly Hyer, PhD, Director of Research Development and Innovation at the Institute for Women’s Health and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry was honored as one of the Top 40 Under 40 for the Richmond InStyle Magazine for her work on collaborative research development in women’s health through IWH.
Upcoming Events
Discovery Dialogues: “Fueling Your Body: Why Eating Enough Matters for Muscle Performance and Exercise,” will be presented by Alexandra Lempke, PhD, ATC, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and current BIRCWH Scholar on Monday, December 8th from Noon-1:00pm. Please register here.
Research Study Recruitment Corner
Are you looking to recruit participants for active studies? Please fill out the Research Study Recruitment Corner Form if you are interested in having your study included in the newsletter.
- Deciphering the Cognitive and Neural Underpinnings of Risk-Taking in Eating Disorders (RISK-EAT)
- Recruiting adolescents (ages 12-17) and young adult (ages 18-25) females with and without bulimia nervosa
- Please see the flyer attached to this email for inclusion/exclusion criteria
- 2 study visits are required
- Visit 1: (in person or virtual) will be a ~3 hour screening visit
- Visit 2: (in person at VCU CARI center) will be a ~3-4 hour visit
- Two-week follow-up of online surveys and games
- Participants will be compensated $75 per visit and additionally compensated for engagement in the follow-up period
Follow our new social media pages!
The VCU Institute for Women’s Health has a new social media presence on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook. Connect with us to stay up to date on the latest IWH news!
Do you have exciting news to share? We want to hear from you! Please share any recent career developments (grants, publications, promotions, media stories) using the Newsletter Submission Form. We will feature these highlights in the next IWH newsletter.
To subscribe to the newsletter and join the IWH Listserv, email Kellyn Moody at Kellyn.Moody@vcuhealth.org.