ORWH Launches New Lecture Series on Covid-19, Jan. 27

On Jan. 27 at 11 a.m., the Office of Research on Women’s Health will launch a new virtual lecture series titled “Diverse Voices: Covid-19, Intersectionality and the Health of Women.”

In the first session, Dr. Ana Langer, director of the Women and Health Initiative (W&HI) at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Dr. Jewel Gausman, a research associate at W&HI, will lead a plain-language discussion of topics explored in their commentary article “Sex and Gender Disparities in the Covid-19 Pandemic,” recently published in the Journal of Women’s Health. 

Although fewer women are dying from Covid-19 than men, the speakers think this finding may serve to oversimplify the biological, behavioral, social and systemic factors that may affect differences in disease presentation, progression and outcomes between women and men.

Langer and Gausman will discuss the need to study the pandemic and associated policies through a sex-and-gender lens, particularly with considerations of disadvantaged populations and resource-poor communities, where women are especially vulnerable. The lecture will also consider how existing health and social services can support women during the pandemic as well as the need to support and protect informal caregivers.

The lecture is open to the public; registration is available at https://nih.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItcu2vpj4rHBiFFgqUgfM1U24HWrN69Oo.