The Soter Women's Health Research Program

The Ohio State University College of Medicine is pleased to offer a comprehensive research and innovation initiative dedicated to addressing health conditions and diseases that disproportionately affect women.

The Soter Women’s Health Research Program (SWHRP), supported by a generous contribution from Sarah “Sally” Ross Soter and the Soter Ziegler Foundation, advances women’s health research to deliver new treatments and improves diagnostics, prevention, and health outcomes across the lifespan.

SWHRP connects basic science with clinical and translational researchers to drive novel therapeutic approaches that address critical challenges in women’s health.

Services provided by the Soter Women’s Health Research Program

The SWHRP is committed to advancing women's health throughout all stages of life, with research initiatives focused on the treatment and prevention of diseases that predominantly impact women. The primary elements of the program include:

• Soter Research Awards – Competitive funds for multidisciplinary teams advancing women’s health, including the annual Soter Summit Award.
• Program Directorship – An endowed position for a preeminent physician-scientist with demonstrated success in creating new approaches to women’s health.
• Early-Career Professorships – Two endowed professorships for postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty members, with positions rotating every three years.
• Women’s Health Research Laboratory – The SWHRP is housed in a dedicated neighborhood of eight labs in The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center’s new Pelotonia Research Center in The Carmenton Innovation District. The research neighborhood will bring together eight principal investigators and their teams to conduct research focused on advancing women's health.
• Women’s Health Community Outreach – Support to expand The Ohio State University College of Medicine’s community outreach programs for women's health.

About the Soter Summit Award

The Soter Summit Award is an annual, competitive research grant awarded to a team of investigators whose research focuses on women’s health and sex differences across the lifespan. The goal of this award is to support innovative and transdisciplinary research that generates critical data for extramural grant applications.

A total of $250,000 is provided collectively each year to support laboratory personnel, supplies, and other required expenses such as core services. At least one principal investigator (PI) of the grant must be a faculty member at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, and all co-investigators must be within The Ohio State University or The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. The teams should comprise basic, clinical, and translational scientists working together to address a common issue affecting women’s health.

Special interest is given to projects related to:

• Stress
• Pregnancy
• Cardiovascular health
• Cancer prevention
• Aging

Soter Summit RFA and awardees

Awardee(s) will be selected in April/May 2026.

To request the current RFA or ask questions regarding the Soter Research Awards, reach out to WomensHealthResearch@osumc.edu.

Previous award winners

FY2026 awarded to: 

• Priya Dedhia, MD, PhD and Aleksander Skardal, PhD for “Immune targeting of sexual dimorphism in adrenocortical carcinoma.”
• Zeynep Saygin, PhD and Maged Costantine, MD for “Sex-specific neuroprotective factors in fetuses exposed to adverse intrauterine environments.”
• Aharon G. Freud, MD, PhD, Casey Cosgrove, MD, and Christopher C. Oakes, PhD for "Clinical and Genetic Factors Molding NK cell Functions in Endometrial Cancer”

The FY2025 award went to Kara Rood, MD, Natalia Higuita-Castro, PhD and Kristin Stanford, PhD for their research on "Novel Modalities for Preeclampsia and Postpartum Cardiovascular Risk Reduction."