Michelle Oyen

🌸 Today is World Maternal Mental Health Day 🌸
💡 Let's continue to create supportive environments that help mothers thrive.

To all the incredible mothers balancing it all: We see you. We support you. And we're here for you. 💜

YouTube video by Veritasium The Most Dangerous Building in Manhattan

Every engineering student should watch this video. Ethics, mechanics, mistakes, and so many lessons!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q56P...

Yes, this is all horrible. But I really wish people in the US would stop and think "Maybe we can build something better, not just recreate a system that had a lot of problems." Sincerely, someone who spent 12 years overseas where things were organized very differently...

The placenta: A disposable organ we can’t live without Tiny Matters · Episode

New podcast interview on the placenta!

open.spotify.com/episode/0rnA...

Could be interesting to put the various male- and female-leaning diseases into this a la the Mirin 2021 paper to see how little NIH has been spending on women's health... (8% according to the recent NASEM report...)

The Scramble to Save Rural Health Care From DOGE Can an Alabama health clinic survive Musk’s “chainsaw for bureaucracy”?

So important for maternal health in much of the US right now... www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

NSF downsizes summer research program for undergraduates Many participants are from groups underrepresented in science

A generation of scientists could be lost through the axing of various programs designed to help young people find a path into basic and applied research. www.science.org/content/arti...

Defense Dept. Schools Pause Pride Clubs and Remove Books Clubs for Hispanic and Asian students were also among the student groups put on hold as officials raced to interpret Trump administration orders.

Cutting out STEM clubs for girls is NOT what the world needs right now...
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/u...

At least 12 universities now have hiring freezes and nearly 30 have cut PhD admissions this year

If you hear of other places you can add them to this google doc:

"CARD has been at the cutting edge of advances not just for Alzheimer’s but Parkinson’s disease as well."

Reminder, 42% of births in the US are covered by Medicaid. So like so many other things lately, this is a direct attack on women's health.

FDA cuts hit AI division, even as Trump invests in the technology Layoffs at the FDA appear to have hit the AI and digital health staff particularly hard. It also has a strained relationship with Musk’s company Neuralink.

Firings at FDA over the weekend taking out A.I. staff
www.statnews.com/2025/02/16/f... Note the subtitle.

We are seeking an Asst. Prof. in biomedical imaging at my fantastic new location (Wayne State University) in rejuvenating urban Detroit: waynetalent.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...

WHO comments on United States announcement of intent to withdraw The World Health Organization regrets the announcement that the United States of America intends to withdraw from the Organization. WHO plays a crucial role in protecting the health and security of the world’s people, including Americans, by addressing the root causes of disease, building stronger health systems, and detecting, preventing and responding to health emergencies, including disease outbreaks, often in dangerous places where others cannot go. The United States was a founding member of WHO in 1948 and has participated in shaping and governing WHO’s work ever since, alongside 193 other Member States, including through its active participation in the World Health Assembly and Executive Board. For over seven decades, WHO and the USA have saved countless lives and protected Americans and all people from health threats. Together, we ended smallpox, and together we have brought polio to the brink of eradication. American institutions have contributed to and benefited from membership in WHO. With the participation of the United States and other Member States, WHO has over the past 7 years implemented the largest set of reforms in its history, to transform our accountability, cost-effectiveness, and impact in countries. This work continues. We hope the United States will reconsider and we look forward to engaging in constructive dialogue to maintain the partnership between the USA and WHO, for the benefit of the health and well-being of millions of people around the globe.

WHO comments on United States announcement of intent to withdraw bit.ly/4hrbeJ7

The SRI Late Breaking Abstract Submission is OPEN! Share your groundbreaking research in women’s reproductive health with the global scientific community. #SRI2025

Submit your Late Breaking Abstract today!
www.sri-online.org/events/2025/...

Our very own Professor Ashley Moffett of Reproductive Immunology was awarded the prestigious CMP for Women’s Reproductive Health. The foremost international authority on the immunology of human reproduction, her work has helped explain high rates of pre-eclampsia and maternal mortality in Africa.

Featuring comments from me about the HUGE potential for digital twins in pregnancy research!

Michelle Oyen, PhD - Digital Twins for Pregnancy and Engineering The Female Experience MOTHER-podcast with Karina Vazirova · Episode

Bioengineers are working on a virtual model for a pregnancy.

This could predict how a pregnancy would play out from a simple ultrasound scan.

Tune in to my interview with @michelleoyen.bsky.social to learn more:

open.spotify.com/episode/4hhs...

For my colleagues in placental research, the November installment of the North American Placenta Lab Meeting is happening this Tuesday (Nov 19) at 9:00 am PST/12:00 pm EST over Zoom (mcmaster.zoom.us/j/96005378701). See details on our scheduled speakers below!

I know I should be so excited and happy about this but... how can reproduction-related issues only represent 5% of women's health issues? I am getting worried that NONE of the new attention will be on endo, fibroids, CV disease post-pre-eclampsia, etc.

www.mckinsey.com/mhi/our-insi...

The Language of Astronomy Is Needlessly Violent and Inaccurate Astronomy is beautiful and elegant. The language we use to describe its processes is anything but

I hadn't noticed until I read this article, but a lot of astronomy language is violent and misleading, even misogynistic, when it could be elegant and inclusive 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...

Hydroxychloroquine could have caused 17,000 deaths during COVID, study finds Former US President Donald Trump said: ‘What do you have to lose? Take it.’

Because so many don’t believe the scientists anymore (if it doesn’t agree with their opinion), this is the possible impact of snake oil in the 21st century:🧪

www.politico.eu/article/hydr...

No, COVID mRNA Vaccines Won't Damage Your DNA You have a “better chance of becoming Spider-Man” than being harmed by DNA from COVID vaccines

This one goes out to everyone with loved ones in Florida, where the state's surgeon general, yes the state's SURGEON GENERAL, claimed that mRNA vaccines contaminate people's DNA. You have a better chance of becoming Spider-Man than having your DNA harmed by mRNA vaccines 🧪

No, COVID mRNA Vaccines Won't Damage Your DNA You have a “better chance of becoming Spider-Man” than being harmed by DNA from COVID vaccines

One underappreciated danger of electing anti-science conspiracy theorists is that they appoint anti-science conspiracy theorists to important positions.
Covid vaccines don't contaminate your DNA & it endangers public health for a surgeon general to say they do 🧪 by @tanyalewis.bsky.social

Evelyn Fox Keller (1936–2023), philosopher who questioned gender roles in science Mathematical biologist, philosopher and historian of science who challenged the vision of science as a masculine activity. Mathematical biologist, philosopher and historian of science who challenged t...

A little more on Evelynn Fox Keller. "Mathematical biologist, philosopher and historian of science who challenged the vision of science as a masculine activity"
#philbio #philsci
#hpbiol
#science
#feministsky
👩‍🔬|👩🏻‍🔬|👩🏼‍🔬|👩🏽‍🔬|👩🏾‍🔬|👩🏿‍🔬
#sts
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
and
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Elizabeth Stern’s cancer research has had a lasting impact on women’s health Elizabeth Stern’s work has had a lasting impact on women’s healthcare, improving cervical cancer diagnosis and promoting the inclusion and protection of all women against disease.

🎗️January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. Her contributions saved countless lives, but do you know Elizabeth Stern? We rely on her discoveries during cervical cancer screenings, and in safer use of hormonal birth control #reprosky #CanSky #OncoSky 🧪🖥️ 🧬 #WomenInSTEM:
www.jax.org/news-and-ins...

1️⃣4️⃣ Katherine Johnson (1918-2020) 🇺🇸 #womeninSTEM American space scientist & mathematician, a leading figure in American space history. Without Margot Shetterly's book & movie adaptation 'Hidden Figures', K. Johnson's essential contribution would have remained unknown.

www.nasa.gov/general/kath...

It's not too late to order my book Not Just for the Boys: Why we need more women in science, for the (aspiring) scientist or teacher in your life, male, female or non-binary. From OUP or Amazon #WomenInSTEM

I is for Invasion Throughout January I am going to do an out-of-order alphabet of posts on Women's Health Engineering, mostly but not exclusively focused on my research topic of preterm birth.

Day 3/26 in my Women's Health Engineering alphabet, "I is for Invasion". Trophoblast invasion, AKA the early stages of placenta formation. Completed with a shout-out to the best placenta book I've ever read, Charlie Loke's "Life's Vital Link". 🧪🤰

michelleoyen.substack.com/p/i-is-for-i...

Pregnancy researcher, both a scientist (biophysics) and an engineer. engineering.wustl.edu/faculty/Mich... scholar.google.com/citations?us...