Through the First.In.Women® Precision Medicine Platform, the Connors Center is thrilled to collaborate with the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) and to provide grants and support early-career researchers through the First Look Awards. The goal of this grant program is to support translational research at Massachusetts research institutions that furthers our understanding of sex and gender differences, especially for diseases or conditions that affect women exclusively, predominately, or differentially. The First Look Awards fall within our First.In.Women Precision Medicine Platform, which seeks to promote translational investigation to ensure that novel therapeutics are developed to optimize health for both women and men and provide early career grant support to sex and gender-focused investigators.
David Pepin, PhD
2023 Awardee
Assistant Molecular Biologist, Department of Surgery
Mass General Hospital
Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery
Harvard Medical School
“Targeting AMHR2 in cancer-associated mesothelial cells as a treatment for ovarian cancer”
Juan Gnecco, PhD
2023 Awardee
Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Tufts University
“Mapping the mediators of inflammation across the human menstrual cycle”
Krishna Aragam, MD, MS
2023 Awardee
Instructor, Department of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Physician Investigator, Cardiovascular Research Center
Mass General Research Institute
“Assessing genetic risk for peripartum cardiomyopathy”
Zareen Farukhi, MD, MPH
2023 Awardee
Instructor, Department of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Cardiologist, Department of Preventative Medicine
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
“Association of Menopausal State, Sex, and Incident CVD events with HDL cholesterol, Particle Subfractions, and Function”
Marie Billaud, PhD
2022 Awardee
Department of Surgery, Division of Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
“Sex Differences in the Pathophysiology of Aortic Diseases”
Ching-Wen Chang, PhD
2022 Awardee
Department of Medicine
UMass Chan Medical School
“A human trophoblast-derived placental model for studying the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on early pregnancy”
Kara McKinley, PhD
2022 Awardee
Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology
Harvard University
“A new model for the study of endometriosis”
Sallie Schneider, PhD
2021 Awardee
Department of Surgery
UMass Chan Medical School, Baystate Medical Center
“E2-PATH assay for assessment of breast cancer risk and treatment”
