Science that Speaks: Advancing Research Priorities in Women’s Obesity Care

Part of the OSSD 2025 Annual Meeting

This event is taking place live at the OSSD 2025 Annual Meeting, on Sunday, June 1 at 1:30 p.m. MT in Albuquerque, NM.

The Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR) is committed to advancing women’s health through science, policy, and education while promoting research on sex differences to optimize women’s health. Although research has documented sex differences in metabolism and cardiometabolic diseases, there remains insufficient investment in studying sex, gender, and hormone differences in obesity, and inclusion of women from diverse subpopulations in clinical studies. This session will discuss gaps in obesity research and care that contribute to health disparities among women and highlight opportunities to engage in advocacy for more holistic policy solutions. It will also examine how communication practices between scientific and policy communities shape our ability to increase investment, reduce stigma, and influence meaningful change in across the health care ecosystem.

This event includes:

Calling for Change: Elevating the Women’s Health Lens in Obesity Research, presented by Irene O. Aninye, PhD, Chief Science Officer, Society for Women’s Health Research

Weight and obesity impact health across the lifespan, with unique sex- and gender-based challenges for women. Comprehensive approaches to metabolic health care must incorporate sex differences analyses, as well as recognize how stigma, access, and clinical decision-making impact women and vary by population. This presentation will provide a focused overview of the role and challenges of obesity in improving health outcomes for women. The speaker will share how SWHR has worked to advance obesity research and care in women, and highlight research questions, clinical strategies, and policy solutions that SWHR proposes to address persistent gaps and disparities needing national and global attention.

Communicating for Change: Maximizing Accuracy, Impact, and Reach, presented by Syreen Goulmamine, MPH, Science Programs Manager, Society for Women’s Health Research

Science communication shapes research impact, especially in areas like obesity, where stigma, bias, and knowledge gaps persist. Current narratives around obesity tend to obscure the biological and hormonal underpinnings of metabolic health, hyperfocus on individual behavior, and underplay the roles of life stage, health care access, and other determinants of health for women. These errors will perpetuate if communication strategies are unable to effectively explain the science to key stakeholders with the capacity to make meaningful change in their spheres of influence. When scientific goals and data are not communicated in a way that is valuable to the intended audiences, critical work risks being overlooked and under-appreciated. For obesity in women, research must be framed to clearly respond to public health needs, and at the highest level of effect, scientific storytelling drives others to internalize content, assume ownership of the cause, and champion actionable change. Attendees will be encouraged to examine how their own communication practices may unintentionally reinforce these patterns and how reframing the science can drive more equitable research and policy outcomes.

Find more information about the OSSD 2025 Annual Meeting here.