Magee Searching For Unsung Heroes In Women's Health

By Bob Marshall, Chief Editor, Med Device Online

I still remember my first “Magee Prize” like it was yesterday.

Our first child, my beautiful daughter, was born at Magee-Womens Hospital (Pittsburgh, PA.) in 1993. Nearly two years later, we received another "Magee Prize," my wonderful son. Perhaps the biggest prize of all for me was the care that my wife received during her pregnancies and deliveries. You see, her pregnancies were categorized as “high risk” because she was born with a congenital heart defect – tetralogy of fallot (essentially, a hole between the lower chambers of the heart).

The defect was surgically repaired at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and my wife led a very normal life growing up. But, the wondrous changes and challenges that occur to a woman’s body during pregnancy and delivery necessitated the best care in Pittsburgh and, to me, that’s Magee.

Now, “Magee Prize” has taken on a new, more literal meaning:

The Magee-Womens Research Institute (MWRI) will award a $1 million prize to the team of researchers, from anywhere in the world, who propose the best and most innovative project in women’s health research. The prize will be awarded  at the inaugural 9-90 Research Summit, scheduled for October 8-10, 2018 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh. MWRI expects 300-500 researchers to attend, as well as 1500 others from the community, industry, and medicine.

A focal point of the Summit will be communicating the importance of women’s health to overall population health. Thus, the million-dollar prize-winning team will be chosen based on innovation and collaborative research in disciplines including personalized medicine, early human development, reproductive sciences, or gender-based biology. The winner then will collaborate with MWRI (the largest independent research institute in the U.S. focused solely on women’s health research) utilizing its infrastructure and resources to improve women’s health around the globe.

Why Does This Matter?

MWRI firmly believes that conditions during pregnancy can affect the health and wellness of the next 90+ years of a person’s life. In addition to this crucial nine-month period, MWRI is looking to highlight the following issues during the Summit:

• Harmful environmental and nutritional influences during pregnancy can lead to lifelong complications.
• Up to 42 percent of younger and middle-aged women, and up to 55 percent of older women, will experience incontinence at some point in their lives.
• Women’s health research remains underfunded by government agencies.
• Inherited genes increase the risk of certain women’s cancers.
• 1 in 8 couples have trouble conceiving or sustaining a pregnancy.
• The findings of clinical studies conducted on a male patient population frequently are misapplied to women.
• Of the 4 million babies born each year in the U.S., more than 1,000 of them are born prematurely every day.
• Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women, while cancer is the second leading cause; together they represent 44 percent of female mortality.

From my perspective, it seems that prospective Magee Prize competitors would be wise to consider how their work could address one or more of the above issues.

Are There Concerns About Planning The Party While Someone Else Takes The Cake?

I visited Nicole Oshurak, director of corporate partnerships at MWRI, and asked her about any competitive aspects of the Summit and the Magee Prize. I mean, sure, $1 million dollars is a significant and generous prize for a research project, but the summit is likely to draw some movers and shakers in the medical device world.

What if a runner-up project catches the attention of Hologic, Boston Scientific, or CooperSurgical, all of whom have women’s healthcare focus? What if they are looking to buy or license their next device for women, rather than build it from the ground up, internally? Oshurak provided a very altruistic response: the summit will not be territorial.

“Other investors will be welcomed,” she said. “More funding for research is a win-win for women, and ultimately all of humankind.” Oshurak also clarified that the Summit in October of 2018 is expected to lead to three follow-on summits and additional Magee Prizes, the timing of which will be announced at a future date. 

Get Involved!

I wouldn’t trade any of my personal “Magee Prizes” for a million dollars, but those of you interested in seeking the million-dollar Magee Prize to help fund your research in women’s health can find more information here. The program is expected to begin accepting applications in January 2018. Best wishes to those of you who choose to pursue the Magee Prize; it could be very good for you and GREAT for women. I’ll see you at the Summit!