The Women in Global Health Research Initiative at Weill Cornell
The Women in Global Health Research Initiative was started in 2014 at the Center for Global Health at Weill Cornell Medical College to address the gender gap in global health leadership. Women’s health is a top global research priority, yet women hold less than 25% of leadership roles in global health research. The initiative’s founders, Dr. Jennifer Downs, Associate Professor in Medicine, Dr. Jyoti Mathad, Assistant Professor in Medicine, and Dr. Lindsey Reif, Instructor of Clinical Epidemiology, identified four key gender-based challenges faced by women working in global health research:
1. Health and safety
2. Mentorship, research training, and leadership development
3. Balancing career and personal life
4. Discrimination and harassment
The Women in Global Health Research Initiative seeks to empower and support women working in the field of global health research by implementing interventions to address these four key challenges. In addition to hosting annual Women in Global Health Research Scientific Conferences in the US or at our international partner sites, the initiative also provides a variety of resources and mentoring opportunities to strengthen the community of women in global health research.
