As the daughter of New York City school teachers, Dr. Stacey Rosen had two values instilled into her as a child: fairness and curiosity.
That curiosity inspired her to become a cardiologist. But fairness, she soon learned, was harder to satisfy in the health care system. She made it her mission to change that.
Rosen is the executive director of the Katz Institute for Women’s Health at Northwell Health in New York and recently began her term as volunteer president of the American Heart Association. In both roles, she strives to create a more equitable health care experience for all patients—especially women.
“I graduated medical school at a time that we were taught women didn’t get heart disease,” Rosen told Newsweek. “Then the data showed that women were dying of heart disease more than men.”
Clearly, the field of cardiology had to adjust its approach. Although Rosen found this challenge “vastly unfair,” she was excited by the opportunity to further scientific research and make women more visible in medicine.
She’s been doing that work for more than a dozen years now at the Katz Institute, heading a multipronged initiative to improve women’s health care. The Katz Institute puts women at the center of the medical experience and is sensitive to their changing needs throughout their lifespans. Patients can receive specialized care in an environment that recognizes their sex.
“We focus on redefining clinical practice with true experts, beyond [obstetrics] and [gynecology],” Rosen said.
The Katz Institute also includes a research arm that works to improve women’s representation in clinical trials and to examine historically understudied conditions, like menopause. Through philanthropic support, it endows grants for innovation in women’s health care.
One core research focus is endometriosis, a chronic condition that affects one in 10 women during their reproductive years. It can lead to issues with infertility, obesity and hypertension, and many women miss school or work due to the severe pain the condition can cause.
“I think because it was something only seen in women, it was not well studied,” Rosen said. “We didn’t have definitions, appropriate prevention strategies, early diagnosis or treatment [protocols].”
The Katz Institute’s work has helped to rewrite the script on endometriosis, clearing a path for women to get support and treatment.
Its mission branches out into the communities where women work and live, offering digital care and a newsletter that goes out to 35,000 recipients each month. Plus, both the Katz Institute and Rosen herself share a passion for educating future clinicians and scientists on women’s unique needs. More than 1,000 professionals have completed the institute’s certification program to become “experts” in women’s health, including orthopedic surgeons, liver doctors, radiologists and endocrinologists.
Rosen hopes to keep education at the center of her role at the American Heart Association, where she has volunteered since she was a medical fellow. She has seen the organization’s priorities shift from preventing disabilities from heart disease and stroke to its current focus on advancing hope and encouraging people to lead healthier lives. The new position will allow her to combine her interests in cardiology and women’s health—but on an international level.
“My priority remains improving health outcomes for women, and I think that it is a remarkable opportunity,” Rosen said.
It’s one that she’s particularly keen to seize in the current moment. While the health care system has never been perfect, it’s facing an onslaught of new challenges: access issues compounded by an aging population and financial struggles amid recent Medicaid cuts, among them. Women’s health research has been affected by the Trump administration’s federal funding cuts, bringing a sense of urgency to Rosen’s work.
“Some of the changes that we’re looking at now are going to be, honestly, catastrophic for the future of women’s health,” she said, “as well as health in general.”
Modern medicine was founded on research studies that only included male participants. This was a mistake, Rosen said. The female body is different and requires a different approach. Sex is a vital component of well-rounded research.
“We’re making up for decades of not fully understanding how women are different,” she said, “and what’s interesting about it is—if we do this—well, we actually impact positively on men’s health.”
For example, studies on how sex hormones affect migraines could be beneficial for everyone who experiences migraines, according to Rosen.
While there have been significant improvements in women’s health care due to the work of organizations like the Katz Institute, there’s still progress to be made. Rosen hopes to not only help health care recognize women but to help women recognize their right to quality health care.
“As a society, we have to be sure that women have the access to preventive services and the best health care,” Rosen said, “and that [women] feel able and entitled to take care of themselves.”
Rosen will join Newsweek at this year’s inaugural Women’s Global Impact forum. The August 5 event, hosted at Newsweek‘s headquarters in New York City, will bring together some of the world’s top female executives and connect them with rising stars across industries and job functions.
For more information on the event, please visit the Women’s Global Impact homepage.
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