WHI Presentations
This page provides the videos, transcripts, slides and/or handouts for past WHI Annual Investigator Meetings. Please expand the year(s) of interest to view the relevant files. In addition, some years may include abstracts from accepted poster presentations.
Meetings/Presentations
Register here for the 2025 WHI Investigator meeting! We are excited to welcome everyone to this meeting at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center in Seattle, WA (The home of the WHI Clinical Coordinating Center). This year’s meeting will feature dinner at Waterways on South Lake Union and a Friday morning guided lakefront walk.
We are thrilled to welcome keynote speaker Dr. Rachel Whitmer. Dr. Whitmer is a tenured Professor of Public Health Sciences and Neurology, Chief of the Division of Epidemiology at the University of California Davis (UC Davis) School of Medicine and Co-director of the UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. She was the first female ‘Target of Excellence’ hire at UC Davis School of Medicine, a hiring mechanism to recruit high impact scientists who are internationally renowned experts in their fields and will bridge needed gaps in the research mission of the university.
The 2025 meeting will cover a range of topics of interest to researchers, and provide an opportunity for investigators to meet, interact, and share their insights. The confirmed Symposia include:
Please reserve your room by Monday, March 31, 2025 by five (5) pm Pacific Time (PT), to receive the group rate.
We are thrilled to welcome keynote speaker Dr. Rachel Whitmer. Dr. Whitmer is a tenured Professor of Public Health Sciences and Neurology, Chief of the Division of Epidemiology at the University of California Davis (UC Davis) School of Medicine and Co-director of the UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. She was the first female ‘Target of Excellence’ hire at UC Davis School of Medicine, a hiring mechanism to recruit high impact scientists who are internationally renowned experts in their fields and will bridge needed gaps in the research mission of the university.
The 2025 meeting will cover a range of topics of interest to researchers, and provide an opportunity for investigators to meet, interact, and share their insights. The confirmed Symposia include:
- Migraine and Stroke Risk in Postmenopausal Women: The Role of WHI in Advancing Knowledge of Epidemiology, Mechanisms and Preventive Strategies
- Evaluating the Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Syndrome in the WHI DEXA Cohort
- Dementia risk and cognitive resilience
- Disparities in cancer survivorship
- Multi-omics resources and applications to WHI
Please reserve your room by Monday, March 31, 2025 by five (5) pm Pacific Time (PT), to receive the group rate.
- Silver Cloud Lake Union - (Price $179 per night plus tax) – This is a 4-minute walk from the meeting location.
Full Program
Day 1
| Presentation | Speakers | Video |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome/Overview | Marian Neuhouser, WHI Steering Committee Chair | |
| Introduction of the Rebecca Jackson Lecturer | ||
| Unraveling dementia risk, brain health, and exceptional cognitive aging , clues across the life course | Dr. Rachel Whitmer, Professor & Vice Chair of Research, Public Health Sciences University of California, Davis | |
| Q&A | ||
| Plenary 1: Migraine and Stroke Risk in Postmenopausal Women: The Role of WHI in Advancing Knowledge of Epidemiology, Mechanisms and Preventive Strategies | Chair: Tracy Madsen | |
| Plenary 1: Migraine and Stroke: An Opportunity for Improved Stroke Prevention in Women | Brian Silver, University of Massachusetts | |
| Plenary 1: Migraine as a Risk Factor for Stroke across the Lifespan and Modification of Risk after Menopause | Tracy Madsen, Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont | |
| Plenary 1: Migraine and Mechanism: The role of Inflammatory Biomarkers in the Link between Migraine and Stroke | Zailing Xing, Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont | |
| Plenary 1: The Future of Migraine Research in Postmenopausal Women | Jelena Pavlovic, Albert Einstein College of Medicine | |
| Plenary 1: Q&A | ||
| WHI ESI Award introduction | Introduction: Kerry Reding, University of Washington | |
| Presentation | Alexi Vasbinder, University of Washington School of Nursing | |
| IGNITE | ||
| IGNITE 1: Genetic Risk Profiles Inform Personalized Hormone Therapy Decisions: Evidence from the Women's Health Initiative | Huong Le, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center | |
| IGNITE 2: Harnessing the Power of Multi-Omics to Advance Understanding of Biological Aging and Healthspan in Older Women | Aladdin Shadyab, University of California San Diego | |
| Q&A | ||
| CCC updates | Garnet Anderson, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center | |
| WHI Group Photo – Thomas Stairs | ALL | |
| Boxed lunch and panel discussion with SC about the future of WHI | Arnold – M1-A303/305/307 Behnke Suites | |
| Plenary 2 - Dementia risk and cognitive resilience | Chair: Lindsay Reynolds | |
| Plenary 2: Plasma proteins related to inflammatory diet predict future cognitive impairment | Michael Duggan, NIA, NIH | |
| Plenary 2: Proteomic analysis of APOEe4 carriers implicates lipid metabolism, complement and lymphocyte signaling in cognitive resilience | Keenan Walker, NIA/NIH | |
| Plenary 2: Self-reported experiences of discrimination and incident dementia | Michael P. Bancks, Wake Forest University School of Medicine | |
| Plenary 2: Blood based Alzheimer’s biomarkers and Dementia risk in the Women’s Health Initiative | Michelle Mielke, Wake Forest University School of Medicine | |
| Q&A | ||
| Plenary 3 - Multi-omics resources and applications to WHI | Chair: Nora Franceschini | |
| Plenary 3: Introduction and Background | Nora Franceschini, University of North Carolina | |
| Plenary 3: Epigenetics, diet and clinical outcomes | Lindsay Reynolds, Wake Forest University | |
| Plenary 3: Environmental epigenetics and chronic disease risk: enhancing risk prediction to address health disparities | Andres Cardenas, Stanford University | |
| Plenary 3: The Nutrition and Physical Activity Assessment Study (NPAAS) research program 2004- present | Marian Neuhouser, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center | |
| Plenary 3: Dietary Intake biomarker criteria and metabolomics-based biomarker findings in WHI cohorts | Ross Prentice, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center | |
| Q&A |
Day 2
| Presentation | Speakers | Video |
|---|---|---|
| Optional 2k South Lake Union walk | Led by CCC staff | |
| Welcome/Overview of the day | Marian Neuhouser | |
| Plenary 4 – Disparities in cancer survivorship | Chair: Elizabeth Cespedes-Feliciano | |
| Plenary 4: Introduction | Elizabeth Cespedes-Feliciano, Kaiser Permanente, Division of Research | |
| Plenary 4: Impact of cancer and its treatments on epigenetic and functional aging: understanding trajectories and potential interventions | Alexandra Binder, University of Hawaii Cancer Center | |
| Plenary 4: Deficits Accumulation Index in WHI: Disparities by race in LILAC cancer survivor and non-cancer controls | Sowmya Vasan, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center | |
| Plenary 4: Neighborhood deprivation and elevated deficit accumulation frailty score among older breast cancer survivors and non-cancer controls | Eunji Choi, Cornell University | |
| Plenary 4: Guideline-concordant breast cancer treatment between urban and rural in the Women's Health Initiative Life and Longevity after Cancer study | Xiaochen Zhang,The Ohio State University | |
| Q&A | ||
| Plenary 5 - Evaluating the Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Syndrome in the WHI DEXA Cohort | Chair: Deepika Laddu | |
| Plenary 5: Introduction | Deepika Laddu, Northwestern University | |
| Plenary 5: WHI DEXA Cohort Stage 1 CKM: Visceral Adiposity/CKM Stage 2: What WHI can contribute | Jennifer Bea, University of Arizona | |
| Plenary 5: CKM Stage 3 &4: WHI Visceral Fat and ASCVD | Andy Odegaard, University of California Irvine | |
| Plenary 5: CKM Stage 3 &4: WHI Visceral Fat and Heart Failure | Michael LaMonte, University at Buffalo | |
| Plenary 5: Next Steps for WHI to make a major contribution to CKM syndrome work | Deepika Laddu | |
| Q&A | ||
| Closing remarks and Wrap-up/Adjourn |
