At its core, the Women’s Health and the Environment Conference series looks at how the environment impacts a woman’s health. The physical, psychological and economic environments play an enormous role, and we want to discuss the impact they have on the health and well-being of women. Women are working and parenting. Add to the mix pollution in the air, pesticides in the food and a million other factors and you have a complex system that increasingly demands health care professionals examine a woman’s total body and world around them in order to effectively diagnose.
A project of the Heinz Family Philanthropies, this conference series began in 1996, bringing together environmental and women’s health leaders. It is based on Teresa Heinz’s belief that women deserve to have their health studied in their own right, with their distinct physical strengths and susceptibilities. Held each fall in Boston, the conference attracts thousands of women, activists and mothers for panel discussions by some of the leading experts on women’s issues. Women, health, the environment and science is not partisan. Thus, so is the conference.
The Women’s Health and the Environment series encourages women to take an active and responsible role in decision-making about their health, lifestyle choices and economic futures. This year, the conference series is celebrating its 11th Anniversary. Here are thee of our featured speakers:
Judith Balk, MD, MPH, Medical Director of the Holistic Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Devra Davis, PhD, MPH, Author of “The Secret History of the War on Cancer”
Special Guest: Deidre Imus, President and Founder of The Deidre Imus Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology
Registration will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis until October 10. I leave you now with a quote from Teresa Heinz Kerry, made at last year’s conference:
This conference series is not designed to tell us what to think. It is, however, designed to invite us to think. It is designed to invite us into a conversation, the point of which is to learn and be empowered. It should be an exciting day and I’m so glad that you’ve decided to be a part of it. Your curiosity, your willingness to hear and raise uncomfortable questions gives me faith in the future. And if women speak, history will listen.
