In celebration of International Day of Women and Girls in Science, please join the Hertz Foundation for our February 2026 Innovation Hour, “From Data to Discovery: Advancing Women’s Health through Interdisciplinary Research”, featuring Hertz Fellows Emma Pierson, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley, and Francesmary Modugno, Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Through two brief spotlight talks and a facilitated audience Q&A, the speakers will share insights from their work using large-scale data, computational methods, and collaborative research to advance human health, highlighting opportunities in women’s health, cancer, precision medicine, and broader public health advancements. This session will showcase how interdisciplinary approaches uncover patterns, translate findings into action and shape the future of healthcare.
Talk Highlights
- Francesmary Modugno will highlight unmet needs in women’s cancer, showing how population studies and collaborative consortia can identify the social, structural, and biological factors that influence outcomes and inform interventions.
- Emma Pierson will discuss how computational and machine learning approaches generate new hypotheses, support evidence-based decision-making, and identify patterns that improve equitable healthcare across cancer and public health.
The session will be moderated by Hertz Fellows Gabby Tender and Freja Ekman who bring complementary expertise in glycobiology, gut health, gene therapy, and immunotherapy.
If you have questions, please contact Aleza Stein, Community Program Manager, at aleza@hertzfoundation.org.
Registration
speakers and Moderators
Francesmary Modugno
Professor, University of Pittsburgh
Emma Pierson
Assistant Professor, University of California, Berkeley
Freja Ekman
Stanford University, Chemical Biology, Genetics
Gabrielle Tender
Associate Program Officer, Microbiome Products, Gates Foundation
