VCU Health of Women 2024 | Emerging Topics in Women’s Health: Autoimmune Disease Challenge

Aninye envisions and directs dynamic science programs that increase awareness of and investment in women’s health and sex differences research. She identifies and recruits diverse stakeholders to participate in SWHR’s interdisciplinary science networks and channels their expertise to advance the goals of SWHR’s mission-focused programs.

Prior to joining SWHR, Aninye worked for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Research Competitiveness Program, where she led strategy teams to evaluate the progress and outcomes of multidisciplinary STEM research and training programs for university consortia. She also designed peer-review systems for externally organized competitions and facilitated workshops to build research capacity and competitiveness in the U.S. and abroad.

Aninye completed her PhD in molecular and integrative physiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where her research focused on identifying and characterizing novel small molecule inhibitors of progesterone receptor action in breast cancer. As a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, she expanded her work in endocrinology and metabolism, studying thyroid hormone action in development and reproduction.

In addition to research, Aninye has dedicated her career to engaging the scientific community through academic service, outreach, and teaching. At the National Institutes of Health (NIH), she developed CEU courses in biotechnology and innovation for clinicians and basic researchers through the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences (FAES@NIH). She was also a member of the biology faculty at Loyola University Maryland.

With a passion to diversify the face of STEM and increase the involvement of underrepresented groups in the sciences, she serves as a mentor and advisor to students and early-career scientists, and she has provided leadership on multiple educational program, career development, and award review committees at professional societies, universities, and community organizations.

A Washington, DC, native, Aninye attended the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) as a Meyerhoff Scholar and holds a BS in biochemistry and molecular biology.

Stacie is a dynamic leader and researcher with 25+ years of diverse experience in biotechnology, academic, nonprofit and pharma in discovery research, drug and device development, scientific strategy, education and patient centricity with a cross functional focus on clinical development and medical affairs.  She has been involved with all phases and functional lines of the pre-clinical research and clinical development process in several therapeutic areas, including infectious diseases, immunology, rheumatology, dermatology, and has worked extensively with the FDA, NIH and NHC. She served as the lead of a COVID-19 task force during the pandemic.  Stacie has served in several leadership roles including Chief Scientific & Medical Officer for the National Psoriasis Foundation, on numerous boards and committees and has been the therapeutic area representative and program lead for her organizations.  She has also consulted for late-stage discovery and clinical development programs in a variety of settings. Stacie received her doctorate in biochemistry from Vanderbilt University and has secondary training in Clinical Pharmacology and Research.  Throughout her career she has been dedicated to optimizing treatment options for unmet needs, promoting education, improving access to care, fostering partnership to progress programs and taking innovative approaches for program strategy.

Estela Mata is the President and co-founder of Looms for Lupus, a non-profit organization that provides lupus, fibromyalgia and mental health awareness, advocacy, and support to those living with these conditions, their loved ones, and caregivers. Estela has worked in healthcare for over 30 years, currently supporting private practices with electronic medical records, office workflows to help the practice and patients for a top leading healthcare organization. In 2011 she co-founded Looms for Lupus when her sister almost lost her life to Immune thrombocytopenia and Lupus; she is alive today because she advocated for herself. Estela has supported her sister and her passion to help others has evolved to illuminating, engaging, empowering and supporting the community as a whole to take control of their overall health care. For the past 11 years, Estela has co-facilitated support groups, led and participated in educational symposiums, advocated locally and nationally. As a community leader and healthcare advocate she partners, collaborates with initiatives including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Minority Health and Health to increase awareness on the need for diversity in lupus clinical trials. She is a Virtual Advisor Team member for both the All of us Research Program and the Scripps Research Digital Trials Center and participant in the Congresswoman Grace Napolitano’s Mental Health Consortium. Estela is an exceptional community engagement liaison for both English and Spanish speakers. 

JoAnn Pinkerton is the Mamie A. Jessup Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division Director of Midlife Health at the University of Virginia, emeritus Executive Director and Past President of The Menopause Society, Certified Menopause Practitioner, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Fellow and past president of the South Atlantic Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

She was recognized in 2021 and 2022 by PubMed as one of the top three in the world for menopause publications. Her awards: 2022 SAAOG Lifetime Achievement, 2019 UVA Master Clinician, Castle Connolly Exceptional Women in Medicine, UVA Sharon Hostler 2013 Women in Leadership, BEST DOCTORs, TOP DOCTORS in America, Top 1% by America’s Most Honored Professionals, and American Library Association Award for Understanding Midlife Health. She has 172 peer-reviewed publications, 30 invited papers, 18 invited chapters, principal investigator for over 30 clinical trials, recently for elinzanetant ( NK1, 3) dual neurokinin receptor antagonist for hot flashes.

She is the founder and division director for Midlife Health, which specializes in caring for women 40 and beyond. It offers outstanding, highly rated, evidence-driven expert care, serves as a site for medical and graduate medical education, conducts national clinical research, and is active within the community.

Miltenberger provides oversight of SWHR’s government relations, communications, and advocacy functions. A member of SWHR’s senior team, she is responsible for helping to drive SWHR’s policy agenda, build relationships with key stakeholders and policymakers, and guide activities to improve women’s health through science, policy, and education.

Previously, Miltenberger served as the assistant director of government affairs for the American Association for Dental Research (AADR), where she was responsible for developing and implementing AADR’s federal policy agenda, spanning federal budget and appropriations issues, international scientific collaboration, scientific workforce matters, and tobacco policy.

Prior to AADR, Miltenberger served as a senior manager for advocacy at AcademyHealth, where she supported efforts to raise the visibility and promote the value of health services and systems research.

Miltenberger received her master’s degree in global communication, with a concentration in public diplomacy, from The George Washington University. She received her ABJ in public relations and her BA in international affairs from the University of Georgia.