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Chicago Friends Fund Second UIC/RIC Symposium
On April 18, 2009, The Goddess Fund held a second UIC/RIC Symposium on Stroke in Women in Chicago at Northwestern University's Lurie Center. Funded by a $30,000 grant from The Chicago Friends of The Goddess Fund, the Symposium served as a Continuing Medical Education Course for Credit, aimed at Doctors and Other Medical Professionals. Goddess Fund Medical Advisory Board Members and Scholars from coast-to coast gave talks on current stroke topics of interest. These included:
Dr. Patti Hurn (Associate Dean, Professor and Vice Chairman for Research) from Oregon Health Sciences University who spoke about "Estrogen and the Female Brain"; Dr. Lynda Lisabeth (Assistant Professor of Epidemiology) from U. Michigan whose topic was "Do Women Present Stroke Differently Than Men and Are They Being Diagnosed and Treated Differently?"; Dr. Steven Kittner (Professor of Neurology and Director, Maryland Stroke Center) of Univ. of Maryland, who discussed "Causation of Stroke in Young Women"; Dr. Dawn Kleindorfer (Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology) from Univ. of Cincinnati who talked about "Educating African American Women About Stroke — The Beauty Shop Project"; Dr. Elliot Roth (Chairman Dept. of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation) of The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago who covered "What's New in Stroke Rehabilitation?"; Dr. Louise McCullough (Assistant Professor of Neurology) of Univ. of Connecticut discussed "Cutting Edge Treatments of Stroke."
Approximately 90 people attended the Symposium from Chicago region hospitals universities and medical institutions. Some of the highlights included flaws in the Women's Health Initiative Study of Hormone Replacement Therapy's Impact on Stroke. Patti Hurn noted that HRT can be protective if taken by women from onset of menopause (age 40's-50's), rather than starting decades later (over age 60), and Louise McCullough showed slides of the beneficial impact of a surgical procedure which involves cutting a replaceable flap in the skull to allow the brain to swell after a stroke event, employed to minimize damage to the patient's faculties.
Other news included the fact that Beauty Shop education programs are now getting started spontaneously, inspired by the example of The Beauty Shop Project's success in educating women of color about stroke. University of Illinois Chicago's Neurology Dept. Chair and Goddess Fund Medical Advisory Board Member, Dr. Phil Gorelick, also addressed the Symposium.
During the prior evening, April 17, 2009, The Chicago Friends of The Goddess Fund held a dinner for the Symposium Speakers at The Drake Hotel and celebrated five annual fundraising events which fully underwrote the two UIC/RIC Courses on Stroke in Women (2007 and 2009), plus about 40 percent of The Goddess Fund/Society for Women's Health Symposium held Feb. 25, 2009 in the Senate Caucus Room on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
Click here to download a copy of the Doctors' and Scientists' UIC/RIC Power Point Presentations.
Goddess Fund Co-Sponsors Capitol Hill Symposium
On February 25, 2009, The Goddess Fund, partnering with The Society for Women’s Health Research, presented "Women and Stroke: The X Factor", a symposium featuring experts prominent in the specialization of how gender and ethnicity affect stroke occurrence and recovery. The event took place in the Russell Senate Caucus Room in Washington, D.C.
Scheduled speakers include: Dr. Dawn Kleindorfer (Assistant Professor, Neurology, Univ. of Cincinnati), "The Impact of Stroke by Gender and Race"; Dr. Steven Kittner (Professor of Neurology and Director Maryland Stroke Center, Univ. of Maryland), "Pregnancy and Stroke Risk — What We Know and What We Need To Know"; Dr. Lewis B. Morgenstern (Director of the Stroke Program, Univ. of Michigan Health System), "Stroke Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment in Women and Men"; Dr. Joseph Broderick (Professor and Chairman, Dept. of Neurology, Univ. of Cinicinnati Medical Center), "Emerging Advances and Management of Acute Stroke"; Dr. Chelsea S. Kidwell (Professor of Neurology, Georgetown University), "The Impact of Stroke in Women — Two Case Studies"; Dr. S. Claiborne Johnston (Director of The Stroke Service and Professor of Neurology and Epidemiology, Univ. of California, San Francisco), "Stroke Research Funding: A Rational Analysis"; Dr. James C. Grotta (Chairman, Dept. Of Neurology, Univ. of Texas Medical School, Houston), "How We Will Prevent and Reverse Stroke in the Next Decade"; Patricia Hurn, PhD (Associate Dean, Professor and Vice Chairman for Research), "The Science Beyond the X Factor"; Donald Stein, PhD (Professor of Emergency Medicine, Emory University), "Progesterone in the Treatment of Stroke: Research from the Laboratory Bench to the Patient’s Bedside"; and Dr. Steven Cramer (Associate Professor of Neurology and Anatomy and Neurobiology, Univ. of California, Irvine), "What’s New in Stroke Recovery." Senator Arlen Specter also spoke.
Chicago Goddesses Raise Funds for Stroke Education
On June 9, 2008, The Chicago Friends of The Goddess Fund raised $50,000 for stroke research and education in their area. Since inception, the organization has secured well over $100,000.
This year’s annual dinner dance, "Sea Goddesses: an Evening for The Hazel K. Goddess Fund for Stroke Research in Women", was celebrated at The Chicago Yacht Club, and followed by a cruise on the Chicago River aboard the yacht Innisfree. In setting the tone for the evening with his opening address, Dr. Philip Gorelick, Chief, Neurology Service at the University of Illinois, affirmed the importance of The Goddess Fund’s mission.
The evening included a silent auction featuring items from Harry Winston and Hermes, as well as a week’s stay at The Bitter End Yacht Club on Virgin Gorda. Earlier this spring the group hosted cocktails and shopping at Tory Burch on Walton Street. Ten percent of sales were donated to the organization.
Proceeds from the events will be used to fund The Chicago Friends’ April 18, 2009 Symposium on Stroke in Women at Northwestern Hospital, sponsored by the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and the University of Illinois, Chicago.
