Happy International Women’s Day from the UIC BIRCWH Program!

Today, Tuesday, March 8, 2012, marks the 101^st anniversary of International Women’s Day, an effort to recognize and celebrate the advancements made toward equality between the sexes. Less than a century ago, women could not vote, and professional career opportunities for women were virtually non-existent. International Women’s Day was launched in 1909 by American suffragettes to bring awareness and support to the suffrage movement. Enthusiasm for this movement quickly spread, and the following year the holiday became an international event due to the influence of a German woman named Clara Zetkin, who was a member of the Social Democratic Party. International Women’s Day is now celebrated around the world, and is a catalyst for the advancement of women’s position in society.

The overarching theme of the holiday this year is “Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures,” and over 250 official celebrations are planned across the US today in honor of the holiday. The United Nation’s International Women’s Day theme for this year has been designated “Empower Rural Women- End Hunger and Poverty.” For more information about local and international events associated with the holiday, as well as the official list of themes for participating countries this year, visit the official website for International Women’s Day. Each year, over 1000 events are held by corporations, women's groups, schools, governments, charities, and individuals across the world, a true testament to the international commitment to women.

As important as it is to recognize our past achievements, we must also continue to foster activism and research in the arena of women’s rights and women’s health. As far as we have come in the last 101 years, there is always room for improvement, and we must continue to stay motivated and dedicated to ensuring equal opportunities for women around the world.

Here at UIC, we are proud of our BIRCWH scholars and the contributions they are making towards both research and clinical practice; in applying a critical lens to women’s health research, our scholars are demonstrating a commitment to women’s rights and offering tangible evidence to improve the status quo in research and practice.

We hope that our colleagues both nationally and internationally are taking time today to recognize and celebrate empowered women who are enacting change to build a better future for their families, communities and countries.

UIC BIRCWH Scholar Named One of the Top Chicago Doctors

A special congratulations to Dr. Thasarat Vajaranant! Dr. Vajaranant is honored in Chicago Magazine's January 2012 issue as one of the top doctors in the Chicago area for her work in women's eye health. Dr. Vajaranant was chosen from among the more than 35,000 doctors in the metroland Chicago area and recognized for her unique clinical expertise. The magazine is currently available at newstands throughout Chicago or online.

As a BIRCWH scholar, Dr. Vajaranant's research goal is to build a research program in women’s eye health. Specifically, she hopes to determine gender difference in eye diseases and to identify women at risk as well as gender specific risk factors for blindness. Worldwide, blindness is more common in women, and glaucoma is one of major causes of irreversible blindness. Dr. Vajaranant is investigating gender difference in eye diseases and glaucoma using a database from the Los Angeles Latino Eye Study (LALES), a large population based study. In addition, she is examining the neuroprotective effect of female sex hormones, and studying the association between the decline in the female sex hormones with aging and the development of glaucoma and glaucoma progression.