ROSA Center Participates in National Meeting

On November 1, the Brigham/Harvard Center for Reproductive Outcomes of Stress and Aging (ROSA) joined other Specialized Centers of Research Excellence (SCORE) on Sex Differences nationwide for the annual meeting. Cara Tannenbaum, MD, MSc Scientific Director, Institute of Gender and Health, Canadian Institutes of Health Research was the keynote speaker and discussed “Next Generation Sex and Gender Science.” You can view the recording on the Office of Research on Women’s Health’s website.

Following the public keynote, the NIH hosted a closed session with other SCORE sites from across the country to share progress towards each site’s goals. Principal Investigator, Hadine Joffe, MD, MSc provided a plenary talk that discussed the overall progress of the Center and discussed future activities.

In addition, two ROSA Associate Scientists presented their individual projects in sessions with other junior investigators from other SCORE sites. Sidney Pereira, DVM, Ph.D. presented on “GABAergic neurons mediate effects of glucocorticoids on thermoregulation in a sex-dependent manner in gonadectomized mice” related to the basic science work of the ROSA Center within Project 3. Primavera Spagnolo, MD, Ph.D. presented on “Interaction between the endocannabinoid system and estradiol as a novel mechanism linked to perimenopausal depression.” This work is related to her ROSA Center Pilot Award.

In addition to talks, ROSA Center science was also represented in written abstracts. Three abstracts were authored by collaborative teams of ROSA Center members, the lead author is listed below.

“Associations Between Peripheral Inflammatory Cytokines and Negative and Positive Valence Systems in Females” Jessica Busler, PhD, CEC Associate Scientist,

“Orexins as Mediators of the Effects of Low Estradiol on Fragmented Sleep and Stress Responses” Carrie Mahoney, PhD, ROSA Center Scholar, and

“Associations of adverse childhood experiences with sleep quality and duration among women in midlife.” Emily Oken, MD, MPH, Project 2 Co-Lead.

You can read more about the ROSA Center on our webpage and look at upcoming ROSA Center events here.