2026 NCWHR Symposium

Save-the-Date
Wednesday, November 11, 2026

Location
Truhlsen Events Center
619 South 42^nd Street
Omaha, NE 68198

Please save the date for the second annual Nebraska Center for Women's Health Research (NCWHR) Symposium, which will be held on Wednesday Nov. 11, 2026. The mission of the NCWHR is to become a state-wide and nationally recognized center of excellence in women’s health research. Join us to celebrate the cutting edge basic and translational research taking place in Nebraska, with the ultimate goal of better preventing, diagnosing and treating women’s health issues.

The symposium will bring together investigators, clinicians, trainees and community partners working on diverse topics such as infertility, pregnancy complications, osteoporosis, cancer, menopause, cardiovascular disease, mental health, and health disparities. There will be opportunities to present your data, network and hear research updates from current recipients of NCWHR funding. We hope you can join us!

Agenda

8 - 8:30 a.m.: Registration and breakfast
8:30 - 8:45 a.m.: Welcome and opening remarks
8:45 - 9:45 a.m.: Keynote Presentation by Janet Wei, MD, FACC, FAHA - “Cardiovascular Disease in Women: Are We Any Wiser?”
9:45 - 10:15 a.m.: Invited Presentation by Jenni Blackford, PhD - “Same Drink, Different Damage: How Sex Impacts Alcohol’s Toll on the Body and Brain”
10:15 - 10:30 a.m.: Break
10:30 - 11 a.m.: Lindsay McAlarnen, MD - "Antibody-Drug Conjugates in Gynecologic Cancers”, Noah Marcus, PhD - “At the Intersection of Hormones and Hypoxia: Organ Hemodynamics and Tissue Oxygenation”, and Kendra Clark, PhD - “Adolescent PFAS Exposure and the Ovary: From Lasting Dysfunction to Cell-type Specific Responses”
12 - 1:30 p.m.: Lunch/poster presentations
1:30 - 2 p.m.: Karen Gould, PhD - “Ovarian Dysfunction in a Mouse Model of Lupus”
2 - 2:30 p.m.: Vimla Band, PhD - “ECD, a steroid hormone regulated protein drives breast cancer aggressiveness and metastasis”
2:30 - 2:45 p.m.: Sierra Beckner, BSN, RN - “Serum Perfluorohexane Sulfonic Acid and History of Stillbirth Among U.S. Women: NHANES 2017 – March 2020”
2:45 - 3 p.m.: Amanda Brinkworth, PhD - “Modeling epithelial immune responses to Chlamydia trachomatis infection in the human female reproductive tract”
3 - 3:15 p.m.: Break
3:15 - 3:45 p.m.: Poster awards and closing remarks

Key Speakers

John S. Davis, PhD, Professor, Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine; Director, Nebraska Center for Women’s Health Research; Director of Research and Development, Olson Center for Women’s Heath, UNMC

Janet Wei, MD, FACC, FAHA, Associate Professor of Cardiology and Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; Erika J. Glazer Chair in Women's Cardiovascular Research, Education and Innovation; Associate Medical Director, Biomedical Imaging Research Institute, Cedars Sinai Health Sciences University

Jenni Blackford, PhD, Associate Dean of Research and the Hattie B. Munroe Professor, Munroe-Meyer Institute, UNMC; Professor, UNMC Dept. of Neurological Sciences and Pediatrics; Professor, UNO Dept. of Psychology

Lindsey McAlarnen, MD, M.Sc, FACOG, Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, UNMC

Noah Marcus, PhD, Associate Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology, Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences

Kendra Clark, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, UNMC; Department of Environmental, Agricultural, and Occupational Health Research Scientist, VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System

Karen Gould, PhD, Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Anatomy, College of Medicine, UNMC; Interim Dean, UNMC Office of Graduate Studies

Vimla Band, PhD, Ardith and Anna Von Housen Professor and Chairwoman Chair, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Anatomy, College of Medicine, UNMC