Florence P. Haseltine, PhD, MD, is a board certified obstetrician and gynecologist and an expert in reproductive endocrinology. She is the founder of the Society for Women’s Health Research.
Haseltine received her undergraduate training at University of California at Berkeley, a doctorate in biophysics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an MD from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Following her internship at the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia and her residency at Boston Hospital for Women (Brigham and Women’s Hospital), she served as Assistant and Associate Professor in the Department of Ob/Gyn and Pediatrics at Yale University.
While at Yale University School of Medicine, she took a year of training at the School of Organization and Management in order to develop a proficiency in administration, policy, strategic planning and business development. She wrote computer programs for automating sperm counting and sold them to industry. She has served on the Scientific Advisory Board of Health Care Ventures, a venture capital group specializing in biotechnology.
The health of women and their advancement professionally are central issues for Haseltine. In 1990, she founded the Society for Women’s Health Research and was its first president. SWHR has brought the issue of research on women’s health to the attention of federal officials and prominent members of the media as well as placing it on the nation’s priority research agenda. As SWHR’s founder, Haseltine wrote mission statements, raised monies, established bylaws, and hired the original staff. She is also the founder of Haseltine Systems, a company devoted to easing travel for persons with disabilities.
Haseltine has co-edited and reviewed numerous publications and books on a range of topics, including reproductive biology, women’s health, and proceedings of NIH-sponsored conferences related to the reproductive sciences and population issues. She was also the founding editor of the Journal of Women’s Health. In addition, she has made many scientific, public, and media presentations across the country and internationally. She now concentrates on helping nonprofits in the medical advocacy area with their IT requirements. Her current activities include developing mobile apps for medicine. As an early adopter, her work as expanded to include such wearable devices as Google GLASS.
Haseltine was on the Board of Directors of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Society for Gynecologic Investigation. She is currently a board member of the American Women in Science and the Older Women’s League. She has been recognized for her contributions in the field of women’s health and reproductive science by election to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) (now the the National Academy of Medicine (NAM)) and by receiving a variety of accolades. These awards include the following: the Weizmann Honored Scientist Award, the American Woman’s Medical Association Scientist Award, the Advocacy Award from Research!America for the Society for Women’s Health Research, and Kilby Laureate. She was also an honoree for Health Hero of the American Health for Women Magazine and for Prevention Magazine “Hall of Fame;” and Ladies’ Home Journal “Champions of Women’s Health.” She has received lifetime achievement awards from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and from the Foundation for the History of Women in Medicine (FHWIM).
