Imagine a world in which science can accurately predict, in utero, a person’s risk for developing disease a half-century later – then mapping out strategies that reshape the course of that future. Imagine science that correctly identifies different outcomes for men and women based on the complex genetic choreography that is unique to each sex. Imagine a society in which doctors reverse chronic diseases, long before symptoms ever appear. Does this world sound like one you want to live in?
At Magee-Womens Research Institute & Foundation, we are working every day to bring that world one step closer to reality. But we cannot do it alone. Our supporters and donors are an integral part of our efforts to advance translational research and strengthen our excellent patient care. We also have a rich history of open collaboration with researchers from institutions across the country and around the world. This October, we are hosting a research summit to accelerate our efforts.
The Magee-Womens Research Summit has a simple, yet profound mission: to chart a course for tomorrow’s precision-based medical research innovations that will lead to a healthier, longer lifespan for humankind. It will shape the national agenda on women’s health and deliver our future vision of women’s health to the world. Partnering across sectors and domains will be critical to our efforts. In attendance will be scientists, researchers, and experts in the fields of health care, pharma, life sciences and technology. It will be the premier forum for scientific exchange, designed to ignite the imagination of scientists from both developed and developing nations to enhance the health and wellness of women and infants worldwide. Together, we will accelerate our progress in translating discovery into disease diagnostics, treatment and prevention strategies that reflect a fundamental shift to a more proactive and personalized approach that will enable us to identify diseases at a very early stage, long before the onset of symptoms.
The centerpiece of the summit will be the award of the Magee Prize, a $1 million prize for collaborative and transformative women’s health research. Funded through the generosity and support of the Richard King Mellon Foundation, it is the largest prize of its type anywhere in the world. Just as the Summit overall will serve as a clarion call for the most innovative ideas worldwide, the Magee Prize aims to invigorate the historically underfunded field of women’s health research and inspire bold, collaborative, and innovative research now and far into the future. It will fund a collaborative team whose unique research in reproductive sciences and women’s health will improve lives globally.
The winners will be announced at the Magee Prize Dinner on October 9, an exclusive affair that will celebrate and highlight the critical role women’s health research plays in building a better world for us all. We are honored to have Lara Logan, a journalist with “60 Minutes” and former CBS News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, as our keynote speaker for the evening. Her journalistic efforts both overseas and in the United States have earned her a variety of awards and honors, including multiple Emmy Awards, several Murrow awards, an Overseas Press Club Award, the Daniel Pearl Award, Glamour Woman of the Year, five American Women in Radio and Television Gracie Awards, and electronic journalism’s highest award, the duPont–Columbia University Silver Baton. Lara’s experience and expertise will jumpstart a powerful and important conversation about the future of health for women across the world.
Through the Summit, we will not only raise awareness for these issues, we will help fast-track efforts to attract the resources, political support, and intensive scientific research required to capture new discoveries and provide benchmarks. With your help, participation and support, the inaugural summit will serve as the foundation for launching a coordinated global strategy to accelerate the pace of discovery and improve the lives of women, infants and communities around the world. It’s all happening October 9-10 in Pittsburgh. Be sure to join us. You can learn more and register for both the summit and the Magee Prize Dinner at MageeSummit.org.