Center for Women’s Health Research Announces Judith and Joseph Wagner Endowed Chair in Women’s Health Research Fund
The Center for Women’s Health Research at the University of Colorado School of Medicine is pleased to announce the creation of the Judith and Joseph Wagner Endowed Chair in Women’s Health Research. The chair is held by Judith G. Regensteiner, PhD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado who is the Co-founder and Director of the Center for Women’s Health Research.
Responding to the dearth of research on women’s health issues, Dr. Regensteiner co-founded the Center for Women’s Health Research in 2002. Her research expertise, for which she is internationally known, is in the areas of women’s health, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Her research in diabetes in particular is focused on gaining understanding of the cardiovascular effects of type 2 diabetes so that optimal treatments can be sought. She has been Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator of several current and previous large grants in type 2 diabetes and peripheral arterial disease funded by NIH and the American Diabetes Association. She has published extensively in these areas and has received honors including the Elizabeth Gee Lectureship Award, the Department of Medicine Ph.D. Teaching and Research Award and the Henry Christian award for outstanding cardiovascular research from the American Federation for Medical Research. Dr. Regensteiner is currently also Principal Investigator of the National Institutes of Health’s Building Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) grant, serves on the Advisory Board of Office of Research in Women’s Health at the NIH, and is particularly passionate about mentoring the next generation of physician/scientists.
Through its focus on recruitment and mentoring of excellent physician scientists committed to women’s health/sex differences research, the Center for Women’s Health Research seeks to accelerate improvements in women’s health by uncovering answers to medical questions relating to cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The $2 million endowed chair is one of the few chairs in women’s health research in the world and is the first at the University of Colorado. Recognizing the significance of this historic milestone in women’s health research at the University of Colorado, Judith and Joseph Wagner’s lead gift inspired more than forty individuals and foundations in the community to complete funding for the Chair within an eighteen-month timeframe.