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September 30 October 2

Save the Date: Women’s Health Conference 2026

Multi generational women having fun together at park - Multiracial people meet and hugging each other outdoor

Time

8:00 am 5:00 pm

Event Type

Conferences and Symposia

Overview

The global Women’s Health Conference was launched in 2023 by the Global Centre for Asian Women’s Health (GloW) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, in collaboration with Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Following the success of the 2023 and 2024 conferences in Singapore and the 2025 meeting in Paris, the 2026 conference will be held in Boston from September 30 to October 2, 2026.

The 2026 meeting is co-organized by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and GloW at NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, in partnership with Stanford University and Université Paris Cité. The conference will highlight cutting-edge advances reshaping women’s health across the life course.

Despite increasing global attention, women’s health remains under-researched and underfunded in many critical domains. Women experience unique biological transitions—from puberty and pregnancy to menopause and aging—that shape lifelong health trajectories. Addressing these complexities requires coordinated, interdisciplinary, and global efforts.

This conference will convene leading scientists, clinicians, innovators, policymakers, and global organizations to accelerate solutions that improve health outcomes for women worldwide.

The two-day scientific program will feature:

  • Recent developments in hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and women’s health.
  • Breakthroughs in precision nutrition and lifestyle medicine
  • Advances in fertility, pregnancy, and reproductive health
  • New approaches to mental health and brain health
  • Healthy aging, cognition, and cardiometabolic health
  • The expanding role of AI and femtech in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention

The program will include plenary lectures, thematic panels, poster sessions, lightning talks by junior investigators, and a special session featuring international organizations and foundations focused on sustaining global investment in women’s health research. The conference will conclude with a half-day symposium commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS), the largest and longest-running study of women’s health, established in 1976.

Organizers

Scientific Organizing Committee

  • Frank B. Hu, Professor and Chair, Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
  • Cuilin Zhang, MD, PhD, Chair Professor of Women’s Health; Director, Global Centre for Asian Women’s Health (GloW), Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore
  • Yap Seng Chong, MBBS, MD, Lien Ying Chow Professor in Medicine; Dean, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore
  • Heather Eliassen, ScD, Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
  • Jorge E. Chavarro, MD, ScD, Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology; Dean for Academic Affairs, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
  • Kathryn M. Rexrode, MD, MPH, Chief, Division of Women’s Health, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
  • Michelle A. Williams, ScD, Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University School of Medicine
  • Melissa Bondy, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University School of Medicine
  • Clarisse Berthezene, PhD, Professor of British History at Université Paris Cité
  • Rosa Maria Bruno, MD, PhD, Université de Paris and European Hospital Georges Pompidou APHP, Paris
  • TBD, Women’s Health Center (iWish), Université Paris Cité

Administrative Organizing Committee

  • Jessie Powell, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
  • Katrina Soriano, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Program

Opening Session

8:30–9:00 AM
Opening Remarks

9:00–9:30 AM
Plenary Lecture: Recent Development in Postmenopausal Hormone Therapy and Women’s Health

AI & Digital Innovation in Women’s Health

9:30–10:50 AM

  • Advances in Femtech in Women’s Health
  • AI and Machine Learning Methods in Women’s Health Research
  • Panel Discussion

Precision Nutrition & Lifestyle Medicine

11:10 AM – 12:30 PM

  • Dietary Strategies to Improve Women’s Health
  • Sleep, Circadian Rhythm, and Women’s Health
  • Gestational Diabetes: Determinants and Life-Course Consequences
  • Panel Discussion

Cardiometabolic & Vascular Health

1:30–3:10 PM

  • Vascular Aging and Women’s Health
  • Cardiometabolic Diseases in Asian Women
  • Gender Differences in GLP-1 Treatment and Health Outcomes
  • Panel Discussion

Lightning Talks by Young Investigators

3:30–5:00 PM

Healthy Aging & Brain Health

8:45–10:05 AM

  • Brain Aging and Women
  • Memory and Cognition
  • Midlife Health and Neurocognitive Outcomes
  • Panel Discussion

Pregnancy, Fertility, Endometriosis & PCOS

10:25 AM–12:05 PM

  • Nutrition and Fertility
  • Endometriosis & PCOS
  • Environmental and Reproductive Health
  • Autoimmune Disease in Women
  • Panel Discussion

Psychosocial Determinants & Mental Health

1:05–2:55 PM

  • Mental Health and Cognition Across the Life Course
  • Global Women Health Disparities
  • Social, Cultural, and Economical Factors
  • Panel Discussion

Global Women’s Health Impact Panel

3:15–4:30 PM
Featuring leaders from the World Economic Forum, McKinsey Health Institute, and the Gates Foundation, including a special session on the Global Women’s Health Impact Tracking Platform (WHIT).

Commemorating 50 Years of the Nurses’ Health Study

  • History and Landmark Discoveries
  • Diet and Nutrition Across the Life Course
  • Lightning Talks by Junior Investigators
  • NHS PI Fireside Chat

ⓘ Harvard Chan School hosts a diverse array of speakers, invited to share both scholarly research and personal perspectives. They do not speak for the School, and hosting them does not imply endorsement of their views, organizations, or employers.