Read the first 2025 Gala press release here.
Tuesday, March 25, 2025 – The Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR) will honor Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Representative Lauren Underwood (D-IL) for their public service to improve women’s health at its 35th Annual Awards Gala this spring. The event, taking place on April 30, 2025, celebrates the contributions of leaders in women’s health.
SWHR will honor Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) with a Women’s Health Visionary Award for her leadership on menopause and healthy aging for women. Sen. Capito was first elected to the United States Senate in 2014 and was re-elected in 2020. She is the first female Senator in West Virginia’s history. After serving West Virginia’s Second Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives for 14 years, and as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates for four years prior, Sen. Capito decided to run for the U.S. Senate to be an even stronger voice for the Mountain State. Sen. Capito currently serves on the Appropriations Committee; the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee; the Rules and Administration Committee; and the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee as Chairman. Sen. Capito also serves as the Chair of the Senate Republican Policy (RPC) Committee, the fourth highest position in Senate Republican leadership.
SWHR will present a Women’s Health Visionary Award to Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL) for her significant contributions in maternal health, including her work on the Black Maternal Health Caucus and her efforts on the Black Maternal Health Momnibus. Congresswoman Underwood serves Illinois’s 14th Congressional District and was first sworn into Congress in 2019. She is the first woman, the first person of color, and the first millennial to represent her community in Congress. Rep. Underwood is a registered nurse and co-founder and co-chair of the Black Maternal Health Caucus, which addresses America’s Black maternal health crisis in Congress and advances policy solutions to improve maternal health outcomes and end disparities. Rep. Underwood is Co-Chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee and serves on the House Committee on Appropriations. Prior to her election to Congress, she served as a senior advisor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), helping communities across the country prevent, prepare for, and respond to disasters, bioterror threats, and public health emergencies. As a career public servant at HHS, she also helped implement the Affordable Care Act, broadening access for those on Medicare, improving health care quality, and reforming private insurance.
These honorees will join previously announced 2025 Women’s Health Visionary Award Honorees Kim Love, Senior Director of Government Affairs and Strategic Alliances for Amgen, and Teresa Woodruff, PhD, Michigan State University (MSU) Research Foundation Professor and MSU President Emerita. Read more about these awardees here. The evening will also feature Anita Ravi, MD, MPH, MSHP, FAAFP with PurpLe Health Foundation as the keynote speaker. PurpLE Health Foundation is a pioneering non-profit organization advancing gender-based violence care as a recognized field in health care through a novel model of clinical care, research, and clinician training.
SWHR supporters will gather at the Willard InterContinental Washington D.C. to celebrate the achievements of these women’s health leaders and the progress made over the last 35 years – while looking to the opportunities in women’s health research. The event will kick-off with a networking reception beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET and dinner following at 7:00 p.m. ET.
In addition to recognizing its exceptional awardees, the 35th Annual Awards Gala also represents an optimal moment to celebrate the Society during its anniversary year. Thirty-five years ago, women were actively and intentionally excluded from medical research. Since the organization’s founding in 1990, SWHR has played a critical role in identifying clinical and research gaps; raising awareness of diseases, conditions, and life stages that differently, disproportionately, or exclusively affect women; and promoting policies that could positively shape health outcomes for women. Learn more about the history of SWHR and share your own SWHR story with the team here.
Sponsorships and tickets are still available. Information about both can be found here. Funds raised from the event will support SWHR’s science, policy, and educational initiatives. For additional information about the Annual Awards Gala, please contact Development Director Julie Miller at julie[at]swhr.org. Our 2024 Gala sold out so purchase your tickets or sponsorship now.
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About SWHR
The Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR) is a national nonprofit and thought leader dedicated to advancing women’s health through science, policy, and education while promoting research on sex differences to optimize women’s health. Founded in 1990 by a group of physicians, medical researchers, and health advocates, SWHR is making women’s health mainstream by addressing unmet needs and research gaps in women’s health. Thanks to SWHR’s efforts, women are now routinely included in most major medical research studies and more scientists are considering sex as a biological variable in their research. Visit www.swhr.org for more information.